Japan has chosen a Rakuten proposal for its Japan Low-Earth Orbit Satellite Communications Project, known as J-LEO, and Rakuten and AST SpaceMobile are forming a joint venture to run it. The venture, Rakuten AST, will buy satellites from AST and operate a direct-to-device network that connects ordinary phones to space, managed and run inside Japan. Reports put the government … [Read more...] about Japan Picks Rakuten and AST SpaceMobile for J-LEO, a Sovereign Satellite-to-Phone Network Worth About 1 Billion Dollars Over Three Years