Connected car

Staying in touch with each another always, no matter whereabouts on Earth, is crucial for everything from driverless cars to remote healthcare, electronically enabled commerce, tele-education and remote working.

Maintaining such connections relies not only on next-generation terrestrial 5G networks but also on satellites to make the connection when people and devices are in hard-to-reach areas.

ESA is working with satellite communications company OneWeb, the 5G Innovation Centre at the University of Surrey and CGI, one of the largest IT and business services firms in the world, to showcase a space-enabled 5G network that tests the integration of satellites in low Earth orbit and terrestrial mobile 5G networks.

The 5G pilot test project forms part of ESA’s Sunrise Partnership Project with support from the UK Space Agency.

The consortium will further develop how satellites in low Earth orbit can bring fast and high-bandwidth connectivity to those areas that are currently impossible to reach via traditional terrestrial services.