OICETS (Optical Inter-orbit Communications Engineering Test Satellite) is a Japanese experimental communications satellite to be launched by JAXA (Japan Exploration Agency) in 2005. OICETS will play a key role in the development of inter-satellite communications. The crux of its mission will be a conversation with ESA's (European Space Agency's) ARTEMIS fixed-orbit communications satellite, using an array of pointing, targeting, and acquisition hardware. By proving the space-worthiness of these technologies, OICETS will help lay the foundation for a global communications network to support broadcast television, mobile communications, computer connections, and manned spacecraft.