www-2021/src/routes/about-contact.svelte

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<svelte:head>
  <title>FemtoStar - About & Contact</title>
</svelte:head>

<div class="site">
  <TalkingPointContainer>
    <TalkingPointName text="Who We Are" />
    <TalkingPointContent>
      <p>
        The FemtoStar Project is a global community of developers working
        towards one common goal - better, more open, and more private
        communications, anywhere on earth. At the core of the FemtoStar Project
        is FemtoStar Inc., a Canadian corporation wholly owned by FemtoStar
        Project members and tasked with ownership and operation of the FemtoStar
        satellite constellation. However, development of the hardware and
        software that make FemtoStar possible is undertaken by a global
        community of volunteer developers with experience ranging from embedded
        hardware, to secure telecommunications, to software development, to
        aerospace.
      </p>
      <p>
        The FemtoStar Project is a global endeavour. All of our members joined
        the project online, many after coming across the project on their own
        and contacting us. If you've found us, and you want to help, don't
        hesitate to contact us.
      </p>
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  </TalkingPointContainer>

  <TalkingPointContainer>
    <TalkingPointName text="Contact" />
    <TalkingPointContent>
      <p>
        Questions? Comments? Want to chat about satellites? Visit us on Matrix
        at <a
          href="https://matrix.to/#/!COEHOXujBzfAHAVzPG:matrix.org?via=matrix.org&via=lighthouse.cx&via=nordgedanken.dev"
          >#femtostar:matrix.org</a
        >. Alternatively, email us at
        <a href="mailto:femtostar@tutanota.com">femtostar@tutanota.com</a>.
      </p>
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  <TalkingPointContainer>
    <TalkingPointName text="History" />
    <TalkingPointContent>
      <p>
        Development of what is now FemtoStar began with a project named Private
        Mobile Data Protocol (PMDP). While PMDP was intended to be a terrestrial
        network, many of the design elements now used in the FemtoStar Protocol
        were initially designed for this project. A series of tests in
        real-world urban and suburban environments throughout 2019 led to the
        conclusion that, without a dense network and an impractically large
        number of towers, reasonable coverage, even only at low speeds and only
        within city centers, was impractical with a license-free terrestrial
        network.
      </p>

      <p>
        In early 2020, the decision was made to research the implementation of a
        PMDP-like network in a Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) system. While
        Mobile Satellite Service hardware (such as satellite phones, portable
        satellite internet terminals, and machine-to-machine/IoT satellite data
        terminals) is likely less familiar to the typical consumer than hardware
        for terrestrial mobile networks, the possibility of a satellite-based
        network offered an opportunity both to solve the coverage problem, and
        to improve the geolocation-resistance of the system (due to the
        inherently large footprint of communications satellites).
      </p>

      <p>
        Within a month, a basic plan had been developed, and many of the
        remaining problems of the PMDP protocol (such as its lack of any
        mechanism for payment for service) had been solved. The core of the
        proposed network was a constellation of very small communications
        satellites - a design we named FemtoStar.
      </p>

      <p>
        As the FemtoStar Project grew, development continued throughout 2020. In
        2021, FemtoStar Inc. was incorporated in Canada as an entity to own and
        operate the FemtoStar satellite constellation on behalf of the FemtoStar
        Project.
      </p>
    </TalkingPointContent>
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