Non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) have served remote users beyond the reach of cellular networks for years, but until now have rarely been integrated with mobile services. Growing demand for ubiquitous global wireless connectivity has grown with the rise in high performance mobile services and expectations of access wherever users or devices are, whether during transportation, in unserved areas for broadband, or for a growing array of IoT applications connecting devices in the field. The mobile industry has been relatively slow to embrace NTNs, only starting to grapple with the challenges after first standardization of 5G in 3GPP Release 15, published in mid-2018. Since then, through Releases 16 and 17, 3GPP has been exploring how best to embrace all NTN options…