Airbus unveiled its Agnet over Satcom solution to public safety and defence organisations in Oulu, Finland, on May 23, 2024. The display was part of the Celtic-Next AINET-ANTILLAS research project involving over 30 partners from Finland, France and Germany, which aims to accelerate Europe’s digital transformation.
The demonstration showcased how low-latency satellite communications of the OneWeb low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation can support professional and government users, extending critical communications coverage and augmenting capacity in difficult-to-serve geographies.
New satellite terminals support mobility, be it a moving vehicle on the road, an 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, before the customer demonstrations in Oulu.
Agnet over Satcom offers added resilience, extended coverage, and capacity, allowing professional users to communicate without interruptions, even in most demanding situations. In mission-critical operations, fast, reliable, and available connectivity is essential. 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 emerging LEO satellite systems have raised interest in many public and industrial sectors. It is vital 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.
Funded by Business Finland, the Finnish government organisation for innovation funding, AINET-ANTILLAS is a three-year research project ending in 2024.
