5G and towards 6G SatCom Roadmap

Satellite communication business is growing strongly and there are many new players also from the private sector. 6G_Sat project aims at mapping the Finnish space ecosystem including relevant administrative players, research organizations, and especially industries with their potential roles and competences in the satellite communications. In the beginning of this project we will identify organizations to be interviewed and start forming a big picture of development needs and national potential as part of large international ecosystems. Visioned participants include equipment manufactures, operators, simulation expertise, and also end users. In addition, critical users and security of supply views are taken into account.

VTT has been preparing a vision for 5G and Beyond satellite communications with European Space Agency (ESA). The system will be a multi-layered one, including terrestrial, satellite and airborne components. This earlier vision and roadmapping has helped to understand where development is going right now. Also Traficom and BF has been included in the discussions. The work partly answers to what technical steps to be taken and what kind of application areas can be supported. However, from national perspective we need more detailed and concrete plans in order to understand how Finnish industry could contribute internationally. In this work, we will tackle the needs and opportunities of national stakeholders e.g. from coming European constellation and 5G/6G development viewpoints. The end result of the work will be the report/roadmap document which provides information for concrete national steps to be taken in order to strengthen both innovation and business activities in this rapidly developing area.