European satellite operator Eutelsat has announced that their OneWeb network, which is a global constellation of broadband satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) that is partly still supported by the UK government (11% stake), has just conducted the “world’s first successful trial” of a 5G Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN).
OneWeb (aka – Eutelsat OneWeb) currently has 654 small (c.150kg) first generation (GEN1) LEO platforms in space – orbiting at an altitude of 1,200km (c.600 of them for coverage and the rest for redundancy). The network was completed in March 2023 (here), promising both ultrafast broadband speeds and fast latency times. But a further 15 satellites (plus one GEN2 prototype) were then launched in May 2023 to add “resiliency and redundancy to the network” (here) and then 20 more in October 2024 (here).
However, Eutelsat has long held an ambition to adopt mobile (5G) communications support into their satellite network, which would use the Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTNs) standard within the 5G specification (3GPP Release 17). The latest test using a live commercial network is thus said to “pave the way for deployment of the 5G NTN standard, which will result in future satellite and terrestrial interoperability within a large ecosystem, lowering the cost of access and enabling the use of satellite broadband for 5G devices around the world“.
The trial used OneWeb satellites, with the MediaTek NR [5G New Radio] NTN test chipset, and NR NTN test 5G g-NodeB (gNB) provided by ITRI, implementing the 3GPP Release 17 specifications. Sharp, Rhode & Schwarz provided the antenna array and test equipment and the LEO satellites, built by Airbus, carry transponders, with Ku-band service link, Ka-band feeder link, and adopting the “Earth-moving beams” concept.
During the trial, the 5G user terminal successfully connected to the 5G core via the satellite link and exchanged traffic. “With the integration of 5G standards shared and accepted by the entire mobile industry, all compatible satellite constellations will naturally and seamlessly complement terrestrial networks, enabling truly ubiquitous connectivity with economies of scale, and opening up new markets for smartphones, the automotive industry and the Internet-of-Things,” said Eutelsat.
Arlen Kassighian, Chief Engineering Officer at Eutelsat Group, said:
“These trials show the commitment of Eutelsat Group in developing and adopting new technologies, in order to provide the best possible services to our customers, in collaboration with trusted partners. 5G NTN will be a key feature of the IRIS2 constellation, and Eutelsat is at the forefront of this innovation and active member of the ecosystem. We are proud to be the first satellite operator to demonstrate the 5G air interface working on a commercial fleet in Ku-band and paving the way for new applications in future constellations.”
In case anybody has forgotten, OneWeb conducted a related test back in October 2023 (here), although Eutelsat’s latest test is much closer to a final commercial product. The 2023 trial saw a team at the University of Surrey test a 5G mobile network by connecting Surrey’s 5G core to a cell site through the LEO constellation. But that wasn’t the same approach as Starlink or AST Space Mobile are using, where the satellites can directly connect to existing Smartphones (i.e. OneWeb’s original test seemed to be more about providing the backhaul (capacity) for 5G cells, which is still useful).