In May 2025, Galaxy Broadband hosted the team from PowerTrunk, a global leader in mission-critical radio communications, for a live two-hour Proof of Concept (POC) demonstration at Galaxy’s facilities.
The objective was to validate that PowerTrunk’s TETRA radio system, using Radio over Internet Protocol (RoIP), could maintain full functionality when run over the Eutelsat OneWeb Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite network.
The demonstration was a complete success. It confirmed that the satellite-connected system could securely and reliably handle a full suite of mission-critical features, including:
- Individual and group push-to-talk (PTT) calls
- Full-duplex operation
- Short data messaging (SDS)
This is a noteworthy advancement, showing that it’s possible to extend critical radio coverage to any location where terrestrial networks are limited, unavailable, or compromised.
The Challenge: The Terrestrial Tether
PowerTrunk’s customers operate in some of the world’s most challenging sectors like public safety, defense, mining, and utilities. And here, reliable communication is an operational necessity.
Traditionally, their Land Mobile Radio (LMR) systems, like TETRA, depend on a physical network of terrestrial towers and microwave links to function. This creates a major vulnerability:
- Remote Operations: In remote mining or industrial sites, no terrestrial infrastructure exists.
- Disaster Response: In emergency scenarios, ground infrastructure is often the first thing to be compromised or destroyed.
- Backhaul Disruptions: In well-served areas, fiber cuts, microwave drift, maintenance, or local outages can isolate sites and disrupt mission-critical voice/control.
The challenge was to find a backhaul solution that could connect remote radio sites to the central network core. This solution needed to provide stable, high-reliability connectivity with very low latency. Any perceptible delay or lag makes real-time PTT voice communications ineffective.
The Solution: A New Orbit for Critical Communications
The answer was found after combining specialist expertise: Galaxy’s advanced network integration and PowerTrunk’s best-in-class radio technology.
The Technology Partners
- Galaxy Broadband is a Canadian leader in enterprise-grade satellite connectivity for remote and mission-critical operations. As an official Eutelsat OneWeb partner, Galaxy specializes in integrating complex networks, like RF, LTE, and IP systems, for industries such as mining, energy, and government.
- PowerTrunk, provides TETRA, 4G, and 5G radio systems for public safety, transport, and industrial clients. Their focus for this POC was RoIP, a technology that enables their radio systems to transmit securely and reliably over IP networks, including satellite networks.
Why LEO Makes the Difference
Previous attempts to use satellite for real-time voice have been challenged by latency.
- GEO (Geostationary) satellites orbit at ~36,000 km. The distance creates a long signal delay, making PTT calls functionally unusable.
- LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellites, like the OneWeb constellation at ~1,200 km, are much closer. This proximity provides “fiber-like” performance with low latency (around 70–120 ms). This speed is well within the threshold needed for natural, real-time PTT voice.
The Proof of Concept Setup
The live demo at Galaxy’s headquarters brought together technical teams from both companies. The testbed included:
- PowerTrunk’s TETRA SCN Core, CeCoCo dispatch console, and NMS Server.
- OneWeb LEO satellite modules acting as the backhaul link.
- A remote TETRA Base Station and terminals.
The Demonstration: Validating Every Function
The team performed two primary scenarios from the test plan to rigorously validate the solution.
Scenario 1: Remote Tactical Cell Validation
This test simulated a deployable “tactical cell,”an Mast Mounted Base Station or MBS such as one used in disaster response or on a remote industrial site. To stress-test the link, the team forced all calls (even local ones) to “hairpin” through the satellite. A call from Terminal A to Terminal B (both in the same remote area) was routed from the base station, up to the OneWeb satellite, to the core, back to the satellite, and finally back to the base station to reach Terminal B.
Result: Success. The team confirmed stable, real-time performance for:
- Individual and group voice calls
- Full-duplex and PTT operation
- Short Data Services (SDS) messaging
Scenario 2: Satellite Backhaul for Command and Control
This scenario tested the system’s resilience by simulating a failover in which the satellite link must serve as the primary backhaul for command and control.
Result: Success. From a remote PC, operators could access the central core over the OneWeb link to:
- Operate the CeCoCo dispatch console (initiate PTT, manage contacts and groups) .
- Access the NMS client (monitor the system, register/unregister new terminals).
The Results: A New Path for Remote Operations
The two-hour POC was a decisive success. It proved that PowerTrunk’s mission-critical TETRA solution, using RoIP, operates with full, uncompromised functionality over the Galaxy OneWeb LEO network. The stable, low-latency performance met all expectations for mission-critical use.
This validation confirms the commercial and technical viability of deployable, satellite-enabled radio networks. It shows that organizations in mining, emergency services, and other remote industries can now deploy advanced communications anywhere.
For Galaxy, this test positions the company as a key integrator for mission-critical applications on the OneWeb network. For PowerTrunk, it validates the flexibility of their technology, proving it can be deployed reliably far beyond the reach of terrestrial infrastructure.
The Future Hybrid TETRA and LTE
This successful POC is the foundation for future development. The next phase of collaboration, planned just weeks after the demo, will focus on integrating LTE technology. The goal is to create a hybrid TETRA/LTE private network running over the same OneWeb satellite backhaul.
This future solution will offer the best of both worlds: the trusted, mission-critical voice of TETRA combined with the high-speed data capabilities of private LTE, all available in a single, rapidly deployable package.