Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. announced that it is partnering with Radisys® Corporation to develop cloud native 5G non-terrestrial network (NTN) solutions for satellite connectivity. These solutions will be available through Kratos OpenSpace® Platform, the only commercially available, fully software-defined satellite ground system.
Radisys is a leading Radio Access Network (RAN) partner for telecom and mobile network operators around the world. Radisys and Kratos share a common vision for the future of connectivity to provide open standards-based solutions that interoperate seamlessly across terrestrial and space networks.
“Radisys is the ideal partner for Kratos in leading the satellite industry forward with 5G-NTN solutions,” said Greg Quiggle, SVP of product management at Kratos. “Together, we are building a cloud native end-to-end 5G solution for NTNs in the OpenSpace Platform. This new solution will enable open, highly scalable high performance 5G service delivery through any 5G core network worldwide.”
Together, Kratos and Radisys are developing a 5G-NTN satellite base station equivalent to a cellular base station but delivered completely as cloud native software. The ability to do satellite signal processing in software brings standards-based interoperability for quick orchestration of networks within a variety of elastic environments. Doing so better positions satellite operators and service providers to capture the $35 billion in revenue opportunities over the next decade recently identified by GSMA Intelligence at Mobile World Congress earlier this year.
“Our collaboration with Kratos on 5G-NTN solutions marks a significant milestone in the advancement of 5G non-terrestrial network technologies,” said Munish Chhabra, Head of Mobility Software and Services Business, Radisys. “This partnership will drive innovative applications, improve high speed and ubiquitous global connectivity with seamless TN-NTN integration. Radisys’ unique value proposition of creating 5G-NTN RAN with ORAN disaggregated containerized architecture will help reduce the costs associated with non-terrestrial network communications and facilitate new NTN deployments and use cases.”
5G NTN technology allows satellites to provide internet access to almost anywhere on Earth in much the same way 5G works across cellular towers today. Kratos’ and Radisys’ 5G-NTN solutions will enable tighter integration with terrestrial networks to deliver true 5G mobile broadband over satellites.
According to Carmel Ortiz, SVP of technology and innovation at Intelsat, one of the world’s largest global satellite operators, “We are implementing Kratos’ OpenSpace Platform to support our next generation, multi-orbit network. This partnership between Kratos and Radisys gives us confidence that we will be able to offer our consumer, business and government customers best in class 5G services.”