As if the regular 100Mbps connections are not enough for Japan’s residential broadband users, a new satellite internet service has just been launched to deliver ultra high-speed broadband connectivity to the country.

The satellite, codenamed “Kizuna“, was sent to space by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency last February 23, 2008:

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the Wideband InterNetworking engineering test and Demonstration Satellite “KIZUNA” (WINDS) by the H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 14 (H-IIA F14) at 5:55 p.m. on February 23, 2008 (Japan Standard Time, JST) from the Tanegashima Space Center.

The launch vehicle flew smoothly, and, at about 28 minutes and 3 seconds after liftoff, the separation of the KIZUNA was confirmed. {source: JAXA}

Once deployed, the service will deliver a staggering speeds of 155Mbps downstream (upgradable to 1.2Gbps!) and 6Mbps upstream. Japan currently leads in internet broadband speeds worldwide with a media rate of 61Mbps. The satellite internet service will further bump that figure higher.

The Philippine Government also has a similar project called the Cyber Education Project (CEP or CyberEd) although it was more aimed for on-demand or live video feeds to elementary and high school students nationwide. It has a projected budget of Php26.5 billion which is a hefty price tag. This is also a separate but overlapping project from the NBN-ZTE deal.

On a related note, the Kizuna satellite has two antennae — one for the Japan region and another for the South East Asian region which is good news to us since the Philippines is on the radar screen.

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