Just a few days after NASA’s Atlantis space shuttle returned home after a historic mission, another space event has just taken place. This time it was Japan and not the United States of America that organized the recent space event.

So, Japan has just successfully launched an experimental satellite that should be providing high-speed Internet access across Asia. According to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, the brand new Japanese satellite is set to provide Internet access even when terrestrial infrastructure goes down.

Kizuna, as the satellite was called, was launched at 5:55 p.m. (that is 8:55 GMT) from the Space Center on Tanegashima island, southern Japan, and it was carried by a domestically developed H-2A rocket, from which it separated after approximately 35 minutes after the launch.

According to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the communications satellite cost no less than $342 million and is expected to be in use for five years. It will allow high-speed data communications of up to 1.2 Gbps, that is the fastest in the world.

“Kizuna” means “bond” in Japanese and JAXA thought this name is right for a satellite that would allow communication when ground-based networks are severed by different types of disasters. The satellite will be used to transmit data to crisis management offices in case of disaster, but JAXA is hoping that it will also be used as an education or medical tool in order to reach people in remote or mountainous areas.

"The Internet is now an integral part of our lives; but its infrastructure levels vary. Urban areas ... have a better environment, whereas some mountainous regions and remote islands are not well-equipped," said JAXA on its web site.