A bold new initiative from a major player in the American military-industrial complex may sound a little like science fiction, but it’s based on the 5G evolving network program that’s rolling out all over the world.
Sanjana Shivdas reports for Reuters that Lockheed Martin, in conjunction with a company called Omnispace, is building its own ‘deep-space 5G system’ in which and users and stakeholders can switch between satellite and terrestrial networks with the same devices.
“Omnispace is fully committed to the vision of creating a new global communications platform that powers 5G connectivity directly to mobile devices from space,” Omnispace CEO Ram Viswanathan said in a press statement.
Shivdas also quotes Lockheed Chief Executive Officer James Taiclet saying that the project will “bolster the military’s autonomous capabilities.”
Lest you think that Lockheed Martin is dominating this space, other efforts are also in play.
“In the near future, 5G signals will beam down from space and support our ‘terrestrial’ 5G infrastructure on Earth,” Andy Baryer wrote in March of last year at Futur-ithmic, as the pandemic started to emerge stateside. “The end result is a new space race for satellites – promising to offer customers a seamless wireless experience across the entire globe.”
Citing Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites and other technologies, BB talked about evolving projects worldwide.
“A new space race is emerging among tech companies to deploy LEO satellite constellations to deliver high-speed internet service to emerging markets and business customers,” BB wrote. “In February, SpaceX launched its fifth batch of 60 Starlink satellites to orbit. This will bring around 300 Starlink satellites currently in orbit with a long-term goal of 30,000…. London-based OneWeb – whose investors include Virgin Group, Coca-Cola, and Softbank – recently launched 34 OneWeb satellites into orbit, the first of 10 launches in 2020. OneWeb plans to officially open for business in 2021 and will begin by selling services to governments and corporate customers that provide internet service to airplanes, boats and other vessels.”
Look for more “eyes in the sky” to be outfitted with 5G-capable gear to use deep space as a sounding board for terrestrial communications.
