Telecom Ramblings:
Two from orbit, some certifications, and some low latency:
One of the more interesting announcements this week that I don’t quite know what to make up comes from way up in orbit. Commstar Space Communications has announced plans to deploy a data relay satellite between the Earth and the Moon by 2023. More specifically, the satellite will sit at some 42K miles from the Moon, and is intended as a step toward supporting significant volumes of both laser and radio communications between destinations on and in orbit around both bodies. The idea is to build infrastructure to enable networking beyond low earth orbit so that we don’t have to bring it with us later, while simultaneously leveraging modern software-defined automation capabilities.
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And back in space, Viasat has found a new terrestrial partner. MetTel has signed on to bring Viasat’s satellite internet services to market as a part of MetTel’s portfolio. The additional capabilities will let MetTel reach deeper into the markets it serves in both the continental US, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Viasat is able to reach remote locations that the other carriers MetTel works with are unable to reach cost effectively.