News

Rikei Corporation (Headquarters: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Satoru Isaka; hereinafter “Rikei”) is pleased to announce that it has constructed two ground stations (parabolic antennas) for two low earth orbit satellites in Taiki town, Hiroo-gun, Hokkaido, in collaboration with Infostellar Inc. (Headquarters: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Naomi Kurahara; hereinafter “Infostellar.”)

Construction of parabolic antenna

The installation of the ground stations was carried out upon a request for setup and operation from overseas satellite communication service providers to Infostellar, given Rikei’s more than 40 years of experience and knowledge in the satellite communication industry, the company was entrusted with the construction responsibilities.

Infostellar offers ground station installation and operation services for companies around the world, in addition to operation of the global ground station sharing platform “StellarStation.” Low earth orbit satellites are mainly used for earth observation purposes for disaster management and natural phenomena monitoring, and with many satellite communication service providers needing access to ground stations around the world, there is growing interest in Japan to cover the Asia-Pacific region. Taiki town is an optimal location for tracking antennas for satellites with varying orbital inclinations, making it an attractive location particularly for low earth orbit satellites.

“StellarStation” enables to share idle capacity of worldwide ground stations

StellarStation, operated by Infostellar, is a flexible and scalable cloud-based platform that enables to share ground stations around the world. Satellite communication operators can access worldwide ground stations with a single setup. In addition, ground station owners can maximize the use of their ground stations by renting out to other satellite communication service providers while ground stations are not in operation. Some of the ground stations that Rikei installed in Taiki town is also a partner of “StellarStation”.

About Taiki Town, Hokkaido

Since having become a candidate site for the “Aerospace Industry Base” in the 1980s, Taiki town has been actively pursuing a “Space City” concept through various initiatives in cooperation with both public and private sectors, such as the “Hokkaido Spaceport”, a shared spaceport that are freely available to private companies and academic research institutions worldwide.

Future Development

Rikei will continue its collaboration with Infostellar, contributing to requests for the establishment of ground stations in various locations, including Taiki town area. In addition, we will work on developing relationships with overseas antenna manufacturers so that we can provide not just installation services but procurement of low earth orbit satellite antennas.

About Infostellar Inc.

Infostellar is a Ground Segment as a Service (GSaaS) provider for orbital satellites. The company provides a flexible and scalable ground station network through its cloud platform, StellarStation, as well as ground segment support including acquisition of radio license and frequency coordination that are necessary for satellite operation. By reducing the difficulty of building ground segments, Infostellar support mission development and service improvement for companies engaged in new satellite-based businesses. Established in Tokyo, Japan in 2016, currently has offices in the UK and the USA.

About Rikei Corporation

Since its establishment in 1957 as a solution vendor in the IT and electronics industries, Rikei Corporation has provided a variety of solutions ranging from systems to networks, VR/AR contents, electronic materials and electronic devices.

Rikei proposes solutions that utilize cutting-edge technologies and advanced products from Japan and overseas, and contributes to business development such as improving efficiency of operations and profits of customers.

*Product and company names mentioned herein are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.