03 Sep 2025

From the European Space Agency’s (ESA) European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT)’s 5G/6G Hub, British company UniVirtua has successfully demonstrated a new product called dashAlpha – a connectivity-enhancing software platform that offers a step forward in reliable connectivity for self-driving cars, transport as well as vehicles crucial for disaster relief.

The dashAlpha d500R platform is designed to establish connection with several different sources – the so-called wireless bearers – such as satellites, cellular towers, Wi-Fi, Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANETs) and bond these together to increase broadband and decrease latency for the end user, by making use of a machine-learning algorithm used to predict satellite bandwidth performance. The technology is funded under the Space for 5G/6G & Sustainable Connectivity programme, within ESA’s Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) and with support from the UK Space Agency.

During the live demonstration, the platform was used to bond multiple Starlink and Vodafone’s 5G Mobile Private Network (MPN) cellular connections to deliver resilient, high-bandwidth video calls. It was discovered that, despite one of the connections being deliberately severed, a stable connection was maintained – thus unaffecting the quality of the call.

By aggregating multiple sources of connectivity, dashAlpha eliminates a single point of failure and creates a fault tolerant connection which can survive degradation, jamming or removal of one or more wireless bearers. Additionally, the software-defined nature of dashAlpha enables it to run on a variety of Commercial-off-the-Shelf (COTS) hardware, delivering a more cost effective and future-proofed solution than over existing proprietary communications solutions physically tied to their hardware.

“This project aligns with the 5G/6G Hub’s ambition of becoming one of Europe’s centres for excellence and innovation in 5G and 6G connectivity, and my team and I are proud to have added our expertise to this endeavour. Thanks to the cooperation between UniVirtua, ESA and the UK Space Agency, we have worked to advance dashAlpha, opening the platform’s potential to deliver resilient, high-bandwidth communications to remote and underserved areas,” said Antonio Franchi, the Head of ESA’s Space for 5G/6G & Sustainable Connectivity programme.

“UniVirtua has developed and successfully demonstrated a hybrid connectivity software solution at the ESA 5G/6G Hub, unifying terrestrial 5G and non-terrestrial communication bearers. This achievement showcases seamless integration across domains and highlights the potential of hybrid architectures to deliver resilient, high-performance connectivity,” Angelos Goulianos, 5G/6G Systems Engineer who is responsible for the ESA 5G/6G Hub implementation.

“We are thrilled to have taken part in the Advanced Research in Telecommunications (ARTES) Space for 5G/6G & Sustainable Connectivity,” said Joseph Poole, CEO of UniVirtua. “This opportunity allowed us to enhance the capabilities of our dashAlpha platform to create transformative solutions that can significantly benefit the wider community in the provision of secure and seamless connectivity.”

07 Mar 2025

The European Space Agency (ESA) and Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) Foundry announced at MWC25 Barcelona, Spain, an ESA-funding round to support three innovation challenges.

Each innovation challenge targets critical aspects of future connectivity. The first centres on direct-to-device communications, aiming to revolutionise how mobile devices interact with satellites. This breakthrough technology promises to extend connectivity to the world’s most remote regions, supporting emergency services and bridging the digital divide for underserved communities.

The second challenge ventures into 6G innovation, where satellite-terrestrial convergence will play a pivotal role. The challenge will use the standardisation recommendations from the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), with the aim to maximise benefits across industrial partners and users and focus on ultra-low latency applications, advanced IoT, and edge intelligence.

The third challenge focuses on creating pioneering 5G/6G hubs, following the successful model established at ESA’s European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT), located at Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in the UK. These hubs, integrating satellite technology into 5G/6G networks, enable testing of use cases ranging from autonomous vehicles to next-generation logistics, smart cities, and public safety networks.

Interested companies and organisations are invited to submit their proposals until 30 June 2025. Successful applicants will receive funding as well as opportunities to collaborate with leading organisations in the telecommunications and space sectors. Selected innovators will also have the opportunity to showcase their achievements at MWC26 and other GSMA Foundry events.

Antonio Franchi, ESA’s Head of the 5G/6G NTN Programme Office, said: “We are proud to partner with GSMA Foundry on these new industry challenges and we are pleased to expand our investment in the industry. Our goal is to support the satellite and mobile industries to connect everyone, everywhere, and at any time, and this collaboration is a major step towards achieving that vision.”

“By working together, we can unlock the full potential of satellite and terrestrial telecommunications networks, paving the way for groundbreaking solutions that deliver significant benefits to both society and industry,” said Richard Cockle, Head of GSMA Foundry.

Visit here to apply: ESA and GSMA Foundry Challenges 2025

05 Mar 2025

The European Space Agency (ESA) has signed a Memorandum of Intent (MoI) with the Mobile Satellite Services Association (MSSA), taking a further step towards transforming the future of global connectivity. The MoI will see ESA and MSSA spearhead efforts to create seamless mobile connectivity that extends from the busiest urban centres to the most remote rural areas.

Under ESA’s Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES ) strategic programme line – Space for 5G/6G and Sustainable Connectivity – the partnership will build a strong cooperation in innovative areas of 5G/6G networks, with an emphasis on the integration of satellite (non-terrestrial networks, or NTN) and terrestrial networks and continuing momentum for an open-architecture standards-based approach. This also includes accompanying and emerging technologies such as Direct-to-Device (D2D). The collaboration also looks to address crucial policy and standardisation considerations. By aligning with 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards, terrestrial mobile coverage for telecommunications operators and over-the-top (OTT) firms will be extended, reaching and connecting businesses and communities.

The collaboration leverages ESA’s extensive expertise in space technology and MSSA’s comprehensive understanding of mobile satellite services. A global non-profit industry group that represents leaders across the D2D ecosystem (satellite operators, Mobile Network Operators, phone manufacturers, chip venders, Original Equipment Manufacturers, etc), the MSSA brings specialist knowledge on how to optimise the use of L- and S-Band Mobile Satellite Spectrum.

The MoI showcases ESA’s commitment to bringing space to Earth, providing tangible benefits for businesses and impacting the day-to-day lives of citizens. With D2D technologies growing in importance within the connectivity ecosystem, collaboration with international and industry partners ensures that ESA Member States remain competitive in an increasingly competitive sector.

“This partnership reflects our commitment to ensuring that space technology serves society’s connectivity needs,” said Antonio Franchi, Head of ESA’s 5G/6G NTN Programme Office. “By working together with MSSA’s leading satellite operators, we can accelerate the development of space-based 5G/6G and ensure everyone, everywhere has access to reliable connectivity.”

“MSSA and ESA are joining forces to safely and securely integrate satellite and terrestrial communication networks for the benefit of consumers,” said Mark Dankberg, Chairman of MSSA and Chief Executive Officer of Viasat. “Our combined efforts will further benefit the development and deployment of standards-based D2D services to support Europe. Furthermore, ESA’s participation underscores the significant momentum for supporting business models leveraging licensed MSS satellite spectrum and open interoperable architectures based on 3GPP standards.”

28 Feb 2025

The European Space Agency (ESA), together with a consortium of European satellite industry, terrestrial technology providers and terrestrial mobile network operators, have released a study to investigate and optimise routing protocols enabling efficient operation of 6G Multi-orbit Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN).

The project is led and funded by ESA’s Connectivity and Secure Communications’ Space for 5G/6G and Sustainable Connectivity programme line. The study was primed by Eurescom, in collaboration with Fraunhofer FOKUS, Airbus Defence and Space and D-Telekom.

Developed through ESA’s 6G SmartSat project, the study proposes novel routing solutions to seamlessly integrate space-based networks with terrestrial communication systems in the most efficient and adaptable manner. It aims to contribute to the goal of offering advanced connectivity for citizens and industries across ESA Member States and the globe, wherever the location.

With the widespread adoption of 5G as a communications standard, satellite constellations have emerged as viable alternatives and complement terrestrial networks. They offer extensive and reliable communications across a broad spectrum of users and applications, providing commercial, business and government connectivity services, as outlined in ESA’s 5G-IS white paper.

These constellations are already equipped with inter-satellite links and smart payloads capable of supporting Radio Access Network (RAN), core network functionalities and edge computing to form complex space-based networks. The satellite networks are characterised by overlapping layers of multi-orbit, grid-like topologies (how nodes in a network are connected) that undergo frequent, yet predictable, changes. It is viewed that challenges that come with these technologies will be addressed by 3GPP 5G Release 20/6G Release 21 standards.

The NTN networks are further impaired by weather effects that impact service and/or feeder links. These characteristics cause such networks to significantly differ from Terrestrial Networks, requiring new routing strategies.

To cope with these challenges, the study introduces a novel topology semantic routing protocol for multi-orbit NTN networks. The proposed architecture adheres to the principles of 3GPP services requirements, while accommodating the unique topological infrastructure constrains of multi-orbit NTN. It mitigates the continuous changes impacting the links quality or the neighbour satellite nodes status. To further increase the efficiency, the proposed solution can be used in combination with existing low-footprint routing solutions, such as pre-defined centralised routing for regular topologies, segment or geographical routing protocols.

“ESA is proud to be working with our industry partners to evolve and develop key 6G NTN technologies, which have the potential to enhance lives and businesses across our Member States,” said Antonio Franchi, Head of ESA’s Space for 5G/6G and Sustainable Connectivity programme. “This study showcases the real impact that we can have, with evolving business cases to be made across the various sectors, we look forward to realising the potential of 6G NTNs and their complementing role with existing TNs.”

“6G SmartSat activity holistically addresses the design of 6G multi-orbit NTN networking architectures. The study follows a co-design approach involving representatives of satellite and terrestrial sectors to identify, categorise, and prioritise the use cases better served by satellite constellations under technical and market fit criteria. The activity provides a first-in-kind contribution to the NTN sector detailing technology roadmap and tools necessary for validation of future 6G multi-orbit NTN networks,” said ESA’s Maria Guta, Senior 5G/6G Satellite Solutions Architect.

Read the white paper in full.