To test this concept, an experiment was completed between ESA’s flagship 5G/6G Hub in the UK, the soon-to-open ESA 5G/6G Hub in the Netherlands, the 5G/6G Innovation Centre of the University of Surrey in the UK, and the 5G lab of information technology specialist Capgemini in Paris.

At ESA’s 5G/6G Hub in the UK, the call was connected over the hub’s private terrestrial 5G network and two communications satellites occupying a geostationary orbit.

ESA’s facility in the Netherlands was linked to the video conference via a constellation of low Earth orbit satellites.

At the University of Surrey, the call was connected over ground-based 5G and a low Earth orbit constellation.

Capgemini dialled in from devices directly connected to its private stand alone 5G network.