NEC Corporation has announced plans to develop a small technology demonstration satellite aimed at verifying key technologies for future optical communication satellite constellations. This initiative is part of NEC's efforts to advance optical communications, high-speed network routing design, and high-capacity millimeter-wave band communications.
The design phase of the satellite-mounted equipment, or payload, has been completed, with manufacturing and integration into the satellite bus scheduled for fiscal year 2027. In satellite constellations where numerous satellites collaborate, optical communication is increasingly favored over conventional radio to avoid interference and enable high-capacity data transmission.
NEC highlights the need to shorten development and manufacturing times and reduce costs to equip a large number of small satellites with optical communication devices. The company emphasizes the importance of utilizing general-purpose technologies that are highly functional and have a proven track record of mass production.
The technology demonstration satellite will conduct several demonstrations in orbit to enhance competitiveness. These include evaluating a radiation-hardened design for commercial optical transceivers, operational verification of high-speed network routing processing technology using a Versal Adaptive SoC device from AMD, and demonstrating next-generation millimeter-wave band communication technology.
NEC plans to demonstrate the effectiveness of integrating its satellite technology assets with generative AI for application development. The satellite bus will consist of the compact Aries satellite bus, an existing product of U.S.-based Apex Technology.
Apex Technology CEO Ian Cinnamon expressed enthusiasm for partnering with NEC, highlighting the collaboration as an example of how mass-manufactured spacecraft can enable next-generation constellations globally. NEC's Yasushi Yokoyama noted that the demonstration results would be utilized in ongoing research and development projects under various economic security and space strategy programs.
The project underscores NEC's commitment to advancing technological development for new space digital infrastructure, with a focus on safety, security, fairness, and efficiency.
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