The Role of Satellite in 5G and Beyond

The first global standard for Satellite Communications (SatCom) was published in April 2022 within 3GPP Release 17. It specifies the features enabling 4G/5G systems to support a satellite component. More than technical specifications, it also enables the integration of the satellite industry in the 3GPP ecosystem, involving organizations at a worldwide level to ensure a global market. Already the decision has been made to define, as part of 3GPP Release 18, some enhancing features to improve the performances and/or to provide new capabilities. Discussions on the contents of Release 19 for the satellite enabling features have started in the service requirement working group of 3GPP. In this framework, it is timely to undertake a study on the technologies for SatCom as part of Beyond 5G (B5G), i.e., 5G-Advanced and 6G. In fact, while Release 17 Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) provides a solid ground for future satellite networks integrated into the 5G system, a significant innovation breakthrough in technologies, techniques, and architectures is needed to prepare for the next generation. In this chapter, we: (1) detail the 3GPP NTN ecosystem in terms of architectures and challenges; (2) discuss the services and applications; and (3) identify the research challenges to be addressed towards B5G.