Finance

Wireless network

Business

Wireless

Operating system

Standardization

Space (punctuation)

Computer science

Core network

General partnership

Telecommunications

IEEE Communications Standards Magazine

We provide an overview of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) work on evolving the 5G wireless technology to support non-terrestrial satellite networks. Adapting 5G to support non-terrestrial networks entails a holistic design spanning multiple areas from radio access network to services and system aspects to core and terminals. In this article, we describe the main topics of non-terrestrial networks, explain in detail the design aspects, and share various design rationales influencing standardization.

5G from Space: An Overview of 3GPP Non-Terrestrial Networks