As demand for data increases and radio bandwidth becomes ever more crowded, more operators are looking to orbital optical communications to keep up. But how many are using laser technology whose origins may lay in your living room or even your pocket?
Kyohei Iwamoto was appointed president of the newly formed Sony Space Communications Corporation (SSC) in mid-2022 to do exactly that. Iwamoto and SSC are working on ‘technology and business development of small laser communication systems for micro-satellites based on commercial optical disk technologies and devices’.
Sony has already conducted successful tests transmitting high-definition image data by laser from the International Space Station to a ground station in Japan.
Apart from seeking signal processing technologies that can maximise the data rate to be handled with smaller optics for use in low Earth orbit, Iwamoto said the technology will also involve ‘AI for automatic routing through fluid nodes as well as robotics’.
You can find Iwamoto online at linkedin.com/in/kyohei-iwamoto-513b4415/. He plans to attend SPIE Photonics West, ICSOS 2023, Smallsat conference 2023 among others.
Organisation: Sony Space Communications Corporation / Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc.
Role: President / Project Researcher (SOL Project)
Based in: California, USA
Education: PhD, Osaka University, Japan