Rendering of the two initial NGSO satellites that Thales Alenia Space plans to develop for Omnispace. Photo: Omnispace

Omnispace and Vulcan Wireless have tested voice and data communication between the company’s on-orbit satellite and military communications radios, the companies announced Thursday. 

Omnispace used the existing on-orbit satellite from the ICO Global constellation. Omnispace purchased the assets of ICO Global, including priority rights to the S-band 2 Ghz spectrum. In the test, the satellite demonstrated voice and data communication with a PRC-117G mobile tactical military radio. 

Omnispace said the demonstrations were focused on connecting existing military hardware to satellites in commercial frequency bands and orbits, that are not traditionally used by the government, in order to increase the resiliency of battlefield communications.

The test was conducted as part of Omnispace’s Phase II Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) contract, in cooperation with the U.S. Space Force‘s Space Systems Command. The contract was awarded as part of the U.S. Airforce‘s Space Pitch Day.

“This demo proves that software-defined mobile, tactical user equipment can leverage our dual-use commercial infrastructure. Imagine the possibilities that 5G technology will enable for government — from COTM handheld devices to IoT platforms,” said Campbell Marshall, Omnispace’s vice president for Government and International Markets. 

Omnispace will soon launch two satellites developed by Thales Alenia Space for a global 5G mobile network delivered via satellite.