Airbus Demonstrates Low-Latency Satellite Services on a Moving Vehicle Across Northern Finland

The demonstration showcased how low-latency satellite communications of the OneWeb low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation can support professional and government users extend critical communications coverage.

Airbus presented its Agnet over Satcom solution to public safety and defence organisations in Oulu, Finland on 23 May. The display was part of the Celtic-Next AINET-ANTILLAS research project which aims to accelerate Europe’s digital transformation.

Agnet over Satcom offers added resilience and extended coverage and capacity for professional users to continue to communicate without interruptions even in most demanding situations. In mission-critical operations, fast, reliable, and available connectivity is essential whenever and wherever the operation takes place. Deployable networks are a good choice, especially in rural areas, where coverage and capacity can be limited. Even though Finland has one of the best terrestrial networks in the world, low latency for satellite services is crucial worldwide for organisations that maintain security and stability for the public.

The demonstration showcased how low-latency satellite communications of the OneWeb low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation can support professional and government users extend critical communications coverage and augment capacity in difficult-to-serve geographies. New satellite terminals support mobility, be it on a moving vehicle on the road, a flying aircraft, or a ship at sea. In Finland the focus was on the performance and quality of service (QoS) of the mobile satellite link serving connectivity to local field operations with a moving vehicle. Since public information on the achievable performance of LEO satellite systems is very limited, a QoS measurement campaign was performed in close collaboration between Airbus and the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, coordinator of the Finnish consortium of the AINET-ANTILLAS project, prior to the customer demonstrations in Oulu.

The emerging LEO satellite systems have raised interest in many public and industrial sectors. It was therefore essential to have comprehensive information on the capacity of satellite services, particularly for critical services. The new LEO constellations enable low-latency broadband communications that offer user experience comparable to terrestrial 4G/5G services.

The demonstrations were part of the Celtic-Next AINET-ANTILLAS research project involving over 30 partners from Finland, France and Germany. Funded by Business Finland, the Finnish government organisation for innovation funding, AINET-ANTILLAS is a three-year research project ending in 2024.