Sateliot has received the endorsement of the European Space Agency (ESA) through the Future Preparation Generic Program line of the ARTES program on the standard powered by Sateliot, Gatehouse (an exclusive Sateliot partner) and 3GPP contributors to connect IoT standard devices from its LEO constellation.
This statement is a strong industry endorsement of the company’s project to launch their satellite constellation. In addition, this technology will make it possible to extend 5G NB-IoT connectivity to any area of the planet where there is currently no terrestrial coverage, without operators having to make changes to their hardware and at a low cost.
This milestone thus endorses a process that began just over a year ago when 3GPP included the scenario that Sateliot pursues, which contemplates low-orbit smallsat networks to provide IoT services, in its portfolio. 3GPP is the body that periodically brings together the main players in the telecommunications sector to define the different wireless communication standards.
The importance of this technology is based on the premise that operators will be able to interoperate. They will be able to connect with the smallsat network using a roaming service when they need 5G coverage to offer connectivity and follow, for example, the cargo of a moving ship, the trajectory of a mountain biker or alert emergency services in the case of an accident.
This approval has also received a broad consensus from the main operators, companies and institutions throughout the value chain (satellite operators, mobile operators, network providers, device manufacturers…), including companies such as Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom, China Mobile, Sony, Nokia, Ericsson, Eutelsat and Siemens.
For Jaume Sanpera, founder and CEO of Sateliot, this news is “an important recognition of our work, long and complex at a technical level, and also comes at a crucial time for our company, immersed in the preparation of the launch of its first constellation of satellites and in the run-up to the opening of the B series, from which we expect to raise 100 million euros.”
“Tests have been conducted that have demonstrated the successful operation of a set of NTN NB-IoT protocols compliant with the recent 3GPP Release 17 NTN NB-IoT standard developed by Sateliot,” said Xavier Lobao, Head of Future Telecommunication Projects Division of ESA, responsible for the programme that supported the testing.
Sateliot is the first satellite telecommunications operator to provide global and continuous connectivity to all the elements that will make up the Internet of Things (IoT) universe under the 5G protocol. Thanks to a constellation of state-of-the-art nanosatellites, located at low altitude and acting as mobile towers from space, Sateliot is the perfect complement to large telecommunications companies by providing them with the necessary infrastructure to extend their coverage where terrestrial technologies do not reach. More information on our website, Twitter and LinkedIn.