Gatehouse Satcom joins a Sener-led consortium developing interoperable critical communication concepts for a Low-LEO satellite layer and its integration with IRIS², aimed at beyond-line-of-sight connectivity for search and rescue, wildfire response, and maritime operations outside the reach of terrestrial networks.
NØRRESUNDBY, Denmark, 24 September 2026
Gatehouse Satcom has joined AERIS, an activity within the IRIS² Low-LEO pre-operational programme at the European Space Agency, examining how satellite connectivity can support unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) operating beyond line of sight, in places terrestrial networks do not reach. The consortium is led by Sener Aerospace & Defence, with AVS Added Value Solutions, Telefónica, Telespazio Ibérica, and Gatehouse Satcom.
AERIS is one of the contracts in the IRIS² Low-LEO consolidation phase, which prepares new government services for integration into IRIS², the European Union’s planned secure and resilient connectivity constellation. ESA member states committed around €300 million to this part of the IRIS² effort in 2025.
Where a mission critical communication operator today depends on a nearby cell tower or a trunked radio link, AERIS studies interoperable 5G NTN Satellite communication for reliable and predictive commands and control.
The initial phase looks at the architecture, the ground and mission control integration, and the service model a beyond-line-of-sight UAV connectivity service would need, ahead of assessing how such a service might eventually connect into IRIS². The use cases under investigation include search and rescue in areas with damaged infrastructure, wildfire monitoring beyond ground network coverage, maritime and environmental observation, and post-disaster assessment.
Gatehouse Satcom’s contribution is the 5G NTN communication layer: defining the protocol features, performance assumptions, traffic profiles, and connectivity dependencies a UAV service would place on a satellite link, so the architecture under study is standards-aligned and realistic from the first design choice onward.
“Mission-critical operators cannot plan around a cell tower that may not be there. Gatehouse Satcom builds the 5G NTN layer that closes that gap, and AERIS brings it into IRIS²,” said Jesper Noer, Chief Commercial Officer at Gatehouse Satcom.
In this consolidation phase, AERIS sets the requirements that later work will be measured against. Its findings feed into ESA’s evaluation of what the Low-LEO layer of IRIS² should support, work the consortium aims to take toward an in-orbit demonstration. Gatehouse Satcom will share more as the work develops.
Gatehouse Satcomについて
Gatehouse Satcom is a Denmark-based software company delivering 3GPP-compliant protocol stacks, waveforms, and validation tools for non-terrestrial network communication, spanning NB-IoT and 5G New Radio across GEO, MEO, and LEO satellite systems. The company is headquartered in Nørresundby, Denmark, with additional offices in Copenhagen and Krakow, and sales presence in the United States and France.
