October 21, 2020 – Avanti Communications, the leading Ka-band high throughput satellite operator across Europe, Middle East and Africa and ST Engineering iDirect, the leading satellite ground infrastructure company, have played integral roles in the completion of the successful integration of a commercially available 5G core network into a live satellite network. This marks a major milestone for the initiative and the industry, as it marks the first time a live satellite network has been managed and operated using a standard and unmodified commercially available 5G core network. The Sat5G project involves the integration of satellite into 3GPP 5G testbed networks. Using the testbeds, several 5G use case demonstrations over live satellite links were performed, with the satellite links performing several different tasks. The project undertook research and demonstrated the benefit of satellite technology in delivering content to the network edge; providing backhaul to cellular base-stations, improving broadband experience to premises, and providing connectivity to aircraft and moving platforms through emulated GEO and over-the-air MEO satellite connectivity.