2021-04-16 10:07:57 -06:00
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<script>
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import TalkingPointContainer from "../components/TalkingPointContainer.svelte";
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import TalkingPointContent from "../components/TalkingPointContent.svelte";
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import TalkingPointName from "../components/TalkingPointName.svelte";
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</script>
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<svelte:head>
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<title>FemtoStar - About & Contact</title>
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</svelte:head>
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<div class="site">
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<TalkingPointContainer>
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<TalkingPointName text="Who We Are" />
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<TalkingPointContent>
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<p>
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The FemtoStar Project is a global community of developers working
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towards one common goal - better, more open, and more private
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communications, anywhere on earth. At the core of the FemtoStar Project
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is FemtoStar Inc., a Canadian corporation wholly owned by FemtoStar
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Project members and tasked with ownership and operation of the FemtoStar
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satellite constellation. However, development of the hardware and
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software that make FemtoStar possible is undertaken by a global
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community of volunteer developers with experience ranging from embedded
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hardware, to secure telecommunications, to software development, to
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aerospace.
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</p>
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<p>
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The FemtoStar Project is a global endeavour. All of our members joined
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the project online, many after coming across the project on their own
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and contacting us. If you've found us, and you want to help, don't
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hesitate to contact us.
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</p>
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</TalkingPointContent>
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</TalkingPointContainer>
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<TalkingPointContainer>
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<TalkingPointName text="Contact" />
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<TalkingPointContent>
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<p>
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Questions? Comments? Want to chat about satellites? Visit us on Matrix
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at #femtostar:matrix.org. Alternatively, email us at [the name of this
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site/our satellite] at tutanota.com.
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</p>
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</TalkingPointContent>
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</TalkingPointContainer>
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<TalkingPointContainer>
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<TalkingPointName text="History" />
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<TalkingPointContent>
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<p>
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Development of what is now FemtoStar began with a project named Private
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Mobile Data Protocol (PMDP). While PMDP was intended to be a terrestrial
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network, many of the design elements now used in the FemtoStar Protocol
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were initially designed for this project. A series of tests in
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real-world urban and suburban environments throughout 2019 led to the
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conclusion that, without a dense network and an impractically large
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number of towers, reasonable coverage, even only at low speeds and only
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within city centers, was impractical with a license-free terrestrial
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network.
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</p>
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<p>
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In early 2020, the decision was made to research the implementation of a
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PMDP-like network in a Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) system. While
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Mobile Satellite Service hardware (such as satellite phones, portable
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satellite internet terminals, and machine-to-machine/IoT satellite data
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terminals) is likely less familiar to the typical consumer than hardware
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for terrestrial mobile networks, the possibility of a satellite-based
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network offered an opportunity both to solve the coverage problem, and
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to improve the geolocation-resistance of the system (due to the
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inherently large footprint of communications satellites).
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</p>
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<p>
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Within a month, a basic plan had been developed, and many of the
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remaining problems of the PMDP protocol (such as its lack of any
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mechanism for payment for service) had been solved. The core of the
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proposed network was a constellation of very small communications
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satellites - a design we named FemtoStar.
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</p>
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<p>
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As the FemtoStar Project grew, development continued throughout 2020. In
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2021, FemtoStar Inc. was incorporated in Canada as an entity to own and
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operate the FemtoStar satellite constellation on behalf of the FemtoStar
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Project.
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</p>
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</TalkingPointContent>
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</TalkingPointContainer>
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</div>
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<style>
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.site {
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margin-left: auto;
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margin-right: auto;
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padding-top: 1em;
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padding-bottom: 3em;
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max-width: 1500px;
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2021-04-30 11:48:46 -06:00
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padding-left: 1em;
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padding-right: 1em;
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2021-04-16 10:07:57 -06:00
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}
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</style>
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