Importance Score: 82 / 100 🟢
The satellite sector has witnessed significant advancements in missions, markets, and technologies over the decades, yet none compare to the comprehensive transformation currently underway. Predominantly fueled by expansive megaconstellations, notably Starlink, virtually every facet of the industry is experiencing profound change.
Megaconstellations Reshape Satellite Landscape
While Starlink currently dominates industry attention, a recent white paper from Analysys Mason, titled “Meet the Challenge of Starlink and the Mega-Constellations with Software Ground,” underscores other emerging initiatives. These include Blue Origin’s Project Kuiper and similar large-scale projects originating from China. Although various entities exist, the defining characteristic of these major players is their sheer “scale.” They possess the capacity to operate, finance, and market at a magnitude that surpasses the capabilities of traditional, specialized satellite firms.
Furthermore, their ambitions extend beyond simply dominating the satellite domain. Their goal appears to leverage satellite capacity more broadly within global communication networks. Industry analysis has consistently placed the satellite industry’s share at approximately 1% of the overall communications market. Satellite operators have continually sought avenues for expansion. Encouragingly, Starlink is fostering this expansion for all participants by enlarging the total market opportunity.
This evolving landscape necessitates traditional industry participants to adopt a more expansive approach. They must discover collaborative strategies to effectively compete at scale. A singular solution is unlikely; however, there are distinct methods to achieve what defense strategists term “force multipliers.”
Mobilizing for 5G NTN
Similar to how standards from the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a collaborative body of telecommunications corporations, revolutionized the wireless industry, 5G non-terrestrial network (NTN) technology is poised to be a transformative element for satellite operators. It presents significant advantages for enhanced competitiveness. 5G NTN’s waveforms and networking capabilities for burgeoning broadband connectivity, Internet of Things (IoT), and mobility services facilitate a streamlined user experience across diverse satellite and terrestrial wireless networks.
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Beyond capitalizing on expanding market opportunities, 5G NTN provides satellite operators with scale advantages through the extensive ecosystem and considerable investments from the wireless sector in user terminals, high-volume chipsets, and associated technologies. Many obstacles hindering satellite’s mainstream adoption are being addressed within 5G NTN frameworks, with further advancements anticipated. For instance, in addition to reduced terminal expenses, Starlink’s proven accomplishments include user-friendly service provisioning and overall user experience.
The integration of 5G NTN also unlocks numerous additional benefits. Primarily, it aligns networks with a continuous innovation trajectory, unifying them with thousands of global communications enterprises. As the wider industry progresses towards AI-driven 6G, the forthcoming “network of networks” space will no longer function as an isolated, vertical system.
Initiating Roaming Business Models
The wireless industry experienced substantial growth following the introduction of roaming services, which simplified user access to service coverage across broad geographical areas. Seamless roaming diminishes obstacles, stimulates adoption, and enhances profitability—all crucial elements for smaller satellite operators striving to compete with large-scale entities like Starlink.
Roaming within a specific spectrum band necessitates technical capabilities that are inherently incorporated into 5G NTN. However, to enable functional roaming, business agreements beyond technology are also required. These encompass service level agreements and revenue sharing frameworks for specific service types. While roaming is an imminent development, satellite operators should proactively investigate the business aspects and engage in discussions to expedite market introduction once the technological infrastructure is established.
Active Engagement with Standards Organizations
The 3GPP standards underpinning 5G NTN have been instrumental in facilitating the near-ubiquitous growth of mobile networks. Companies that implement 3GPP standards adhere to them rigorously, minimizing custom variations. By genuinely embracing interoperability standards, satellite industry participants gain access to potential supply chains and operational partners, thereby amplifying their scale and constructing a foundation to counter the vertically integrated models of megaconstellations.
While 5G NTN holds significant importance, it represents only one standard requiring attention. Carrier Ethernet, standardized by the Metro Ethernet Forum, enables satellite services to operate like standardized, high-speed terrestrial ethernet. TM Forum defines interfaces for OSS/BSS systems. The DIFI (Digital IF Interoperability Consortium) has already significantly impacted ground systems by fostering seamless interoperability among elements and promoting an open satellite ecosystem. DIFI has recently expanded its focus to include standards for ESA antennas.
Exploring Software-Defined Ground Strategies
To decrease per-bit costs, satellite operators must leverage the next generation of Very High Throughput Satellites and software-defined satellites. Despite delays in software-defined satellite deployment, Analysys Mason projects that over 93% of satellites launched in the coming decade will possess some degree of software-driven flexibility. With their substantial capacity enhancements, these digital architectures will deliver the scale and adaptability needed to make GEO bandwidth costs more competitive with mega-LEO pricing structures.
However, to achieve further cost reductions, in-orbit scale and flexibility must be mirrored by equivalent scale and flexibility in ground infrastructure. By combining adaptable satellites with orchestrated software-defined ground systems, operators can achieve cost-effective scaling, reducing service delivery expenses, while also enhancing network management to improve customer experiences.
Cristina Rodriguez, a vice president at Intel’s Network and Edge Group, recently stated to Fierce Network that “Nobody has ever adopted a software-defined approach and regretted it. The move to software-defined operations is invariably seen as a positive step.”
Similar to 5G NTN, the advantages of orchestrated software-defined ground systems are extensive. These benefits include the capacity to operate multiple services on shared infrastructure—for example, supporting and transitioning between secure military and commercial waveforms and services. These advantages are comprehensively outlined in Analysys Mason’s white paper, which also details how an orchestrated software ground system serves as an optimal platform for deploying 5G NTN, thereby unlocking the more advanced capabilities of 5G NTN for satellite applications. As Analysys Mason notes, “Deploying 5G-ready, virtualized networks will ensure the long-term viability of new satellite network deployments.”
Operators should anticipate this transformative shift and begin to reconsider the satellite/ground relationship. They should move away from a model of one supporting the other and toward a concept of interconnected nodes within a versatile, multi-functional network. This network, capable of scaling and adapting to customer demands, would incorporate both space-based and ground-based components.