The third annual LEO-NET workshop on LEO Networking and Communication was successfully held at ACM SIGCOMM 2025 in September, bringing together researchers, practitioners, and industry experts to discuss the latest developments in Low Earth Orbit satellite networking. LEO-NET provides a premier forum for discussing research challenges and opportunities in LEO satellite networks as constellations like Starlink, OneWeb, and Project Kuiper continue to expand.
The workshop featured presentations and discussions on performance measurements (large-scale studies of LEO satellite network performance), protocol optimization (adapting transport and application protocols for satellite links), network architecture (design principles for LEO-terrestrial hybrid networks), applications (use cases ranging from remote connectivity to maritime communications), and future directions (next-generation satellite systems and 6G integration). Highlights included keynote presentations from industry and academic leaders, cutting-edge research papers on measurement studies and protocol design, panel discussions on spectrum management and inter-satellite routing, and community building between researchers working on different aspects of satellite networking.
LEO satellite networks represent one of the most significant developments in Internet infrastructure, promising to provide global Internet coverage including remote and underserved areas, offer high-speed connectivity for maritime and aviation applications, enable new use cases in IoT, autonomous vehicles, and emergency communications, and complement terrestrial 5G/6G infrastructure. The LEO-NET workshop plays a crucial role in building the research community and advancing our understanding of these systems.
The SPEAR Lab has been actively involved in LEO satellite network research with multiple papers and presentations at the workshop covering studies on Starlink performance across different geographical locations, analysis of CDN behavior over LEO links, transport protocol optimizations for satellite connectivity, and measurement methodologies using RIPE Atlas and custom infrastructure. This work has been recognized with the IETF/IRTF Applied Networking Research Prize (ANRP) 2025. Previous editions include LEO-NET 2024 at ACM MobiCom and LEO-NET 2023 (inaugural workshop) at ACM SIGCOMM, with LEO-NET 2026 planning underway.
Learn more:
We look forward to LEO-NET 2026 and continued advances in LEO satellite networking research!