The goal of the study will be to propose a broad vision of how a 5G and beyond-5G space-based infrastructure can deliver services for industries and consumers
The study by Airbus and its partners is funded by the ESA. (Credit: Airbus S.A.S.)
Airbus has revealed launching a project along multiple partners to explore the delivery of standards based on 5G and beyond 5G communication services over a space-based infrastructure.
The Dutch aerospace company is partnered by Fraunhofer IIS, Bundeswehr University Munich, Fraunhofer FOKUS, and Eurescom.
Airbus is taking part in the project through its defence and space division.
The study is funded by the European Space Agency (ESA).
Its goal will be to propose a broad vision of how a 5G and beyond-5G space-based infrastructure can provide services for consumers and industries engaged in delivering performance, resilience, reliability, and security.
Airbus and partners are expected to propose a non-terrestrial network (NTN) infrastructure and deployment scenarios for providing advanced communication services in a timely and cost-efficient way.
Apart from that, the consortium will focus on preparing a future satcom technology roadmap. This will be in line with the emerging 6G concepts in order for an NTN to play an even larger role in providing global connectivity.
Some of the major objectives of the study include consolidating requirements for supporting a range of industries and consumers and defining overall system architecture and its components.
Another goal of the study is defining services that support the market segments over the mid-term, around 2025, and long term, that is beyond 2030.
The study will also strive to define system convergence and integration with 5G and beyond 5G terrestrial network, said Airbus.
It will be used for elaborating roadmaps in support of developing, validating, and implementing the proposed architecture and its components.
Besides, the study will aim to define recommendations for financing mechanisms with valid procurement and deployment models for realising the proposed infrastructure.
Airbus stated: “Particular focus will be on proposing concepts for 5G space-based infrastructure and recommendations for technology and demonstration roadmaps as well as associated deployment and procurement models.”
The company and its partners aim to complete the study by mid-2022 and will produce a position paper outlining the key findings.
Earlier this year, Airbus entered into a partnership with HyperVerge, an artificial intelligence (AI) startup, for producing intelligence and insights based on an algorithm that detects changes on satellite images.