KT SAT showcases blockchain-based satellite service

KT SAT, Korea’s only satellite service provider and the satellite-operating subsidiary of KT Corp., has demonstrated its blockchain-based satellite service at ConnectTechAsia 2019 held in Singapore last month.

The service provides GiGA Stealth to the closed-circuit television (CCTV) of ships that use a Maritime Very Small Aperture Terminal (MVSAT) service. 

GiGA Stealth is a blockchain-based security solution that exposes the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of Internet of Things (IoT) terminals only to verified users.

Hence, the  blockchain-based service permits only private blockchain key holders, such as ground terminals and ship owners, to remote-monitor the footage of the CCTV cameras installed on ships, according to KT SAT.

The launch of a pilot service is scheduled for the second half of this year.

“We are endeavoring to develop new growth engines for our satellite business,” KT SAT CEO Hahn Won-Sic, said in a media statement. “We are determined to go beyond our transponder business and take a great step forward to serve as a global platform provider.”

Blockchain is among the three growth engines demonstrated by KT SAT at the Singapore conference; the other two being 5G and quantum cryptography.

In a news release, KT SAT explained that “satellite-5G connection is a new telecommunication technology interworking between a 5G core network and 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) by satellite instead of fiber optic cables.”

Meanwhile, satellite-based quantum communication is a technology that KT SAT is developing for heightened security in data communications.

“When the technology is commercialized, KT SAT will be positioned to supply satellite-based data communication service to the military and government, which require higher levels of reliability for their networks,” it explained.