Tiami Networks Plans In-Orbit Demo of 5G ISAC for 2027

Tiami Networks has announced plans to begin a series of in-orbit demonstrations of PolySpace, its space-based 5G Integrated Sensing and Communications (ISAC) initiative, exploring how 5G non-terrestrial networks can provide sensing capabilities alongside conventional communications services.

The first mission is targeted for July 2027 aboard a Blackwing Space Kestrel 3U XL nanosatellite. It will test passive sensing in S-band, using existing 5G communications transmissions as "signals of opportunity" rather than transmitting a dedicated radar signal. Tiami intends subsequent missions to incorporate a 5G NTN gNodeB and progress towards combined communications and active or cooperative sensing.

Tiami's architecture uses communications waveforms to derive radar-like information from characteristics including signal delay and Doppler, with AI used for functions such as moving-object classification. The longer-term objective is to make sensing a software-defined capability of broadband satellite networks, potentially allowing communications constellations to perform some sensing tasks without separate dedicated radar satellites.

The planned orbital test follows a terrestrial demonstration in New Mexico in February 2026, when Tiami used a Starlink Direct-to-Cell 4G LTE transmission to support helicopter detection. The 2027 mission reverses part of that architecture by moving the sensing capability into orbit and analysing ground-to-space signals from a satellite platform.

Potential applications include aviation monitoring beyond terrestrial radar coverage, space-domain awareness, object detection and future satellite collision-avoidance systems. However, the initial mission remains a technology demonstration rather than an operational sensing service, and its final architecture, commercial arrangements and flight schedule are still being developed.