As anyone who has lived through a natural disaster in Japan can attest to, making a cell phone call during, and in the hours following, a disaster is all but impossible. In a country under constant threat (and temblors) of earthquakes, emergency communication is a top priority. And, as such, the Japanese Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry has announced plans to launch a satellite dish large enough to pick up a signal from an ordinary handset – with little modification. Emergency calls could be made through satellite-based networks, rather than land-based networks which are likely to be knocked offline. In order to receive signals from the relatively small antennas of mobile phones, the proposed satellite would need an antenna with a 50-meter diameter. In comparison, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency’s largest satellite, to-date, measured 19-meters in diameter – Kiku No. 8. The new 50-meter satellite is slated to launch sometime in 2015.
If you thought wireless calling plans were expensive. Imagine what the bill for a satellite call might look like!