Open Cosmos’ 6GStarLab satellite—the first European sat to make in-orbit experiments of 6G connectivity possible—is set to launch by the end of the year, and begin operations in early 2026.
The satellite is funded by a €1.65M ($1.9M) award from the i2CAT Research Center in Barcelona, Spain, that Open Cosmos won in March.
Getting testy: The flight of 6GStarLab represents a leap for European non-terrestrial network (NTN) connectivity.
Compared to 5G, 6G stands to offer higher connection speeds, lower latency, and greater capacity. To get there, however, researchers will need to bring the technology from the lab to the commercial market—and that’s where 6GStarLab comes in.
The satellite will offer a testbed for three lines of research: optical ground-to-space comms links, 6G communication protocols such as direct-to-device and broadband, and autonomous software systems.
The satellite will connect to an optical ground station in Móra la Nova, Spain, where researchers will evaluate upload and download speeds.
The ground site will also integrate into terrestrial networks, and track Ka-band frequencies on the satellite, to deliver connectivity on as broad a scale as possible. The aim of the satellite, much like the aim of satcoms more broadly, is to create a system of global connectivity without dead zones.
Laying the groundwork: ESA is pushing ahead with its planned 290-sat IRIS² constellation, which is expected to come online in 2030. The constellation is expected to be built on 5G NTN waveforms, but can upgrade to 6G when it becomes the standard.
The switchover to 6G could come before IRIS² is completed. It took about 40 years to progress from 1G to 5G cellular connections, with upgrades coming at the end of every decade. If the pace of change holds, we could see a rollout of 6G in 2029.
