Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Quasi-Zenith Satellite System of Japan

From the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

April 16, 2008 Updated

On March 7, 2008, the Proto Flight Test on the antenna of the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System was performed in the No. 1 radio wave test facility at the Tsukuba Space Center. The radio wave patterns of the on-board antenna were measured and the "Compact Range Systems" were set up to distribute the radio waves to the transmission feed, the reflector and the Quasi-Zenith L-band antenna, respectively, and confirmed if the antenna met quality requirements.
The Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) is a constellation of several identical satellites, with at least one satellite positioned near the zenith over Japan anytime. Users can receive communication and positioning signals from one of the QZSS satellites near the zenith direction without obstruction in urban and mountainous area. Owing to this advantage, people in moving vehicles and using mobile phones can speak and send/receive high-quality content without interference. In addition, the system is expected to significantly improve the accuracy of positioning.

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