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New Member Interview



       How does Kythera Space               could easily waste 50% of your power   supports all of these tenets of a next-
       Solutions empower space              efficiency  and/or  capacity.  The  result   generation  dynamic,  autonomous
       networks?                            is  a  far  more  expensive  satellite  to   SATCOM service.
                                            operate and a higher cost for service.
       Kythera  is  a  pioneer  in  developing   The key to a successful satellite service   Where does ETSI fit in for
       software  systems  to  manage  and   is  getting  the  cost  per  bit  down,  so   Kythera Space Solutions?
       optimize   dynamic,   autonomous     wasted power and capacity is a killer.
       satellite  communication  (SATCOM)                                        Historically,  SATCOM  networks  were
       networks. Modern SATCOM networks     And,  of  course,  it’s  impossible  to  get   single function and purpose-built with
       take   advantage   of    emerging    technicians out to a satellite on short   no  dynamic  properties.  Standards
       communication  satellite  designs  that   notice, so resiliency is critical.  weren’t  even  a  glimmer  in  anyone’s
       incorporate  advanced  beamforming   What does the future of space        eye. But, as we look towards a future
       and  channelization  hardware,  all                                       filled  with  interoperable  multi-orbit,
       controlled  by  software  that  enables   networks look like?             heterogenous  SATCOM  networks,
       reconfiguration on-the-fly. The Kythera   Five years ago, Kythera received a lot   strong  standards  for  interoperability,
       Operating  System  –  KOS  –  enables   of skepticism for its vision of SATCOM   interfacing, and management become
       satellite operators to exploit these next-  as a real-time, integrated, responsive,   a  necessity.  As  a  leader  in  defining
       generation, software-defined satellites   and resilient service. Today, it is widely   the future of dynamic SATCOM, we’re
       to  dynamically  and  autonomously   accepted that satellite communications   keenly  interested  in  defining  and
       deliver satellite capacity exactly where   will increasingly become:      furthering these standards to establish
       and when it’s needed.                                                     that future.
                                               „ Globally   integrated    and
       How are space networks                 interoperable   across   satellite   Does 5G/6G have a place in
       different from terrestrial ones?       operators, and between government   space?
                                              and commercial satellites;
       Space  networks  are  far  less  mature     „ Multi-orbit  across  satellites  in   Yes. 5G took the first steps to deliver
       than terrestrial ones. Historically, if you   different  orbital  planes,  including   on  the  promise  of  satellite-based
       wanted service from a satellite network,   Low  Earth  Orbit  (LEO)  (like  Space   ubiquitous  high-speed  connectivity.
       you  might  have  had  to  wait  days  or   X’s Starlink network), medium Earth   6G offers the fulfillment of the initial
       weeks to get that service provisioned.   Orbit  (MEO)  (like  SES  Networks’   promise to deliver a rich set of services
       That’s all changing very rapidly at this   O3b  mPOWER  network),  and    across satellite. However, providing 5G
       point,  and  Kythera’s  business  focus   Geosynchronous   Earth   Orbit   or 6G services is more than turning on
       is enabling that shift of SATCOM into   (GEO)   (like   most   traditional   a base station in space and expecting
       a  service  that  operates  much  more   communication satellites);       it to “just work”. Deploying any 3GPP
       dynamically and autonomously – more     „ A unified pool of satellite capacity   technology  in  a  SATCOM  network
       like today’s terrestrial networks.     made up of heterogenous satellites   requires a sophisticated management
                                              from different manufacturers;      solution  that  enables  operators  to
       Some of the big technical differences                                     maximize  their  capacity  and  revenue
       we  deal  with  include  the  fact  that     „ Dynamic, with the ability to rapidly   while minimizing operational expense,
       in  a  satellite  network,  everything  is   respond to changing service needs   taking  into  all  the  unique  constraints
       moving.  The  satellites  are  moving,   and adapting to changing operating   that  characterize  a  satellite  network.
       and  in  many  cases,  they’re  moving   and interference conditions;     Any  such  solution  must  also  enable
       relative  to  the  users  they’re  serving,     „ Autonomous, with instant decision   users to enjoy high-quality, high-speed
       who may also be moving. Additionally,   making,  speeding  operations  with   connectivity in a variety of challenging
       satellites  are  notoriously  power,   fewer humans needed in the loop;   operating  environments.  At  Kythera,
       spectrum,  and  bandwidth  limited,     „ Resilient,  with  built-in  redundancy   we’re  offering  5G/6G  solutions  that
       so  optimizing  capacity  and  service   and service routes.              promise  to  increase  power  and
       becomes  a  constant  battle  against                                     spectrum efficiency by up to 10x above
       hard constraints. If you don’t properly   Kythera  is  at  the  forefront  of  this   what  a  standard  5G/6G  architecture
       optimize against those constraints, you   transformation,  with  software  that   can offer.



                                                                          Enjoy! The ETSI Mag – August 2024    13
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