It's a historic week for Rakuten Mobile and, in a way, for Samsung's mobile division. On April 22, Rakuten, Japan's newest mobile network, made the country's first-ever broadband video call through a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite connection. Incidentally, the satellite video call appears to have been made using unmodified Samsung Galaxy smartphones.

Although this is not a world-first satellite video call, it is a huge milestone for the Japanese mobile industry, the carrier, and the technology providers involved. The video call brings the Rakuten Saikyo Satellite Service one giant step closer to launch.

Japan's first broadband two-way video call through a satellite connection occurred between a Galaxy phone in Fukushima, which connected to the AST SpaceMobile BlueBird Block 1 satellite as it passed over the test site in Northern Japan, and another Galaxy device connected to a regular LTE line roughly 300 kilometers away.

The radio waves were transmitted from and to Rakuten Mobile's gateway earth station in Fukushima Prefecture and another Galaxy phone in Tokyo. An official Rakuten Mobile video explains the entire process.

Although the announcement didn't name Samsung as a technology partner or otherwise, it is fascinating that Japan's newest and most modern mobile network used Galaxy phones for this test. Whether planned or not, Samsung is now a part of this chapter in history.

Better yet, this test shows that the technology can be used by Galaxy phone users in Japan as soon as it goes live. The announcement states that the two-way satellite video call was made using “unmodified smartphones available in Japan.”

The Rakuten Saikyo Satellite Service by AST SpaceMobile aims to bring mobile coverage to remote islands and enable communications in emergency situations. Rakuten says it plans to democratize the mobile industry and make mobile communications accessible to all.