Satellite 5G with Tyvak International’s cubeSat

The Turin-based company, in collaboration with Esa, has launched a smallsat to test a technology that, for now, is only possible with ground antennas.

BY EMILIO COZZI

In the same week that T Mobile launched T Satellite, the direct to cell service that, thanks to the Starlink constellation, can provide data traffic via a cellphone to satellite connection without the need for a dedicated antenna, 5G Lide, the Italian CubeSat designed to test 5G technology connectivity with satellite communications, also took off.

It was carried into orbit by a SpaceX Falcon 9 from the Vandenberg base in California. The demonstration mission was funded by the Italian Space Agency (Asi), with support from the European Space Agency’s (Esa) Artes program, and carried out by an Italian consortium led by Tyvak International, headquartered in Turin.

This is a step forward toward the implementation of a broadband satellite service based on 5G technology. It aims to be the large scale answer to the growing demand for connectivity, following the paradigm “everyone, everywhere, at all times.” In other words, connection for all devices (including the smartphones that everyone carries in their pockets), anywhere in the world using a constellation of at least dozens of satellites, and at any time. This is what SpaceX, with Starlink, has demonstrated to be possible and profitable, even with satellites in low Earth orbit. Satellite data connections themselves are not new: governments and militaries, including those in Italy, have long had access to services using geostationary satellites located 36,000 kilometers above Earth.

What makes the difference with satellites orbiting only a few hundred kilometers from Earth is broadband capacity and low latency. These performances are achieved, another key factor, through small, lightweight satellites that are inexpensive and therefore can be produced quickly and on a large scale. It is no coincidence that Starlink has already begun selling the service, for example to T Mobile, and today everyone is trying to catch up.

For 5G Lide, however, the goal is to go beyond the current service provided by Elon Musk’s company, and establish a connection using 5G technology, which until now has only been possible with ground antennas.

5G with the Tyvak Cubesat

In the field of small satellites, Tyvak International is one of Italy’s leading companies, a position reaffirmed by its recent acquisition by Lockheed Martin.
The company develops modular devices based on cubesat architecture, such as the “Renegade” platform used for this test, a project by Tyvak International in Italy. One of the models built by the company at its facilities in Turin is called Milani and is currently flying alongside the European probe Hera to explore an asteroid, as part of a mission dedicated to planetary defense.

Back on Earth, Lide (Live Demonstration of Direct Access) is a test designed to connect two small aperture terminals, meaning antennas with a small ground diameter, one located in the province of Rieti, Italy, and the other in Noordwijk, in the southern Netherlands, at ESA’s ESTEC 5G/6G Lab.
While not the first test of this kind, Europe is leading the way in this area. Two tests, conducted a few months ago, demonstrated the viability of 5G connectivity via Ntn (Non Terrestrial Network).

The first, at the end of 2024, involved a low Earth orbit satellite from the Canadian company Telesat connecting with Esa’s Estec center in the Netherlands, thanks to an Esa Telesat agreement. The second, in early 2025, was carried out by Eutelsat OneWeb using its own satellites, in collaboration with MediaTek Inc. and Airbus Defence and Space.

Bringing 5G to Space

As previously mentioned, 5G is a technology that has so far only been used through ground based antennas. Making the leap to space based infrastructure, bringing connectivity to anyone, anywhere, at any time, allows for enhanced and expanded service capabilities, especially for increasingly powerful applications, even in remote areas where cellular signals are weak or nonexistent. This includes everyday use by individual smartphone users, as well as strategic sectors such as defense, civil protection, and public administration, along with the Internet of Things and telemedicine. For this reason, a broad and diversified range of expertise is essential.

Tyvak coordinated the activities of Picosats, based in Trieste, which was responsible for developing the two K and Ka band transponders and four antennas, and Radio Analog Micro Electronics (Rame) in Rome, which handled the development of the two ground terminals and TIM. The 5G LIDE project also involved an extensive network of Italian and European partners and suppliers, including Centrotecnica, Criotec, Cira, Ncm Technology, Allegretti Aeroplating, and Axipiter.

For now, the goal of the 5G Lide test is to connect two very small aperture devices. The next step will be to connect mobile antennas, such as those in smartphones, aiming to define a direct to cell technology from 5G to 6G in the coming years.