Satellite is gaining an ever bigger profile in the broader ‘5G’ landscape. A standard for 5G-over-satellite will be included in the 3GPP’s Release 17, due in 2021. The satellite industry gained more spectrum concessions from terrestrial at last year’s World Radio Conference than it had in the 2015 event, and there are some hopeful signs of closer cooperation between the two industries, despite continuing squabbles over C-band and millimeter wave airwaves. And now Apple is reported to be investing in a futuristic technology that would transmit data directly from satellites to handsets, bypassing terrestrial networks and operators. According to Bloomberg sources, CEO Tim Cook is taking a personal interest in a project that is led by aerospace engineers Michael Trela…