08 September 2022

US global communications provider Omnispace wants to be the first company to deliver a global 5G non-terrestrial network with connectivity directly to mobile devices from its low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites.

The move comes after the company completed the launch of two satellites through its Omnispace Spark program earlier this year. It believes the future of communications is hybrid — where satellites extend and augment terrestrial mobile networks.

Fellow US firm AST SpaceMobile is currently building a space-based cellular network designed to be accessible directly by standard mobile phones. It launched its first satellite in March 2019 and it has taken its second satellite, BlueWalker 3, to Cape Canaveral in Florida with launch plans for the end of the summer.

However, Omnispace’s chief commercial officer Brian Pemberton said that what differentiates Omnispace is that from the beginning it has taken a standards-based approach. The company has been working with the 3GPP to operate its future satellite constellation in accordance with non-terrestrial network (NTN) specifications as defined by the 3GPP in its Release 17 for 5G.

“We’ve been instrumental along with Apple, Qualcomm, Nokia, Ericsson and others in developing the standards that we will be building into our satellite communications,” Pemberton said. In contrast AST SpaceMobile is developing proprietary and patented technology for its mobile satellite network, he added.