First in space: Satellite connects to Earth like an ordinary 5G phone

French satellite operator Univity has successfully tested a new technology.

TodayPress TV reports that, according to the company, a satellite carrying a 5G base station has, for the first time, established two-way communication with a terminal on the Earth’s surface.

The satellite, named “uniSpark”, was launched into orbit in June 2025 as part of France’s “France 2030” programme. The tests were conducted from a site operated by the French Space Agency (CNES).

The satellite combines 5G signal processing, data transmission using millimetre waves, and a special technology that allows data to be transmitted and received alternately using the same frequency resource.

The main challenge was that the satellite travels at high speed hundreds of kilometres above the Earth’s surface. Engineers therefore had to account for signal delays, the Doppler effect and precise synchronisation between the satellite and ground-based equipment.

At the end of the tests, the ground device connected to the satellite network like an ordinary 5G subscriber. The company says it took just two years to develop the technology.

Univity CEO Charles Delfieu believes the achievement could pave the way for expanding 5G networks into space in the future. In this way, satellites could become a kind of “extension” of terrestrial mobile networks.

Turkan Iskandarli