Sony has announced that it has established a new subsidiary to promote advanced technologies in the fast space industry. Sony Space Communications Corp., registered yesterday, will develop and supply devices that enable orbiting satellites to communicate with lasers.

Laser communication technology will avoid the shortcomings caused by the lack of free frequencies of radio communication systems. Sony modules will provide data transfer between satellites and connect satellites to ground stations. The time for commercial commissioning of the technology and the cost of the project will be announced later.

It is known that there are approximately 12,000 satellites in Earth orbit at the moment and their number will increase rapidly in the coming years, as the development of aviation and space companies will reduce the cost of launching objects into space. It is known that companies such as SpaceX have already deployed large satellite teams to provide access to the Internet from all over the world.

According to Sony, the amount of data in orbit is increasing every year. In this case, the available radio frequency bands are limited. SpaceX is launching its own modules for laser satellite communication, related technologies were first used on Starlink satellites at the end of last year, and the original developments are also available in China.

Sony isn’t exactly a newcomer to the industry. The company conducted successful laser communications tests in space for the first time in 2020, transmitting high-resolution images from the ISS to a ground communications station in Japan. Source