The modern world is built on connectivity. Yet, a vast portion of the globe, including remote rural areas, expansive ocean territories, and regions affected by natural disasters, remains underserved by current terrestrial network infrastructure. Terrestrial 5G networks, while powerful in urban centers, simply lack the reach and economic feasibility to deliver continuous, high-quality wireless service everywhere. This gap in service creates critical vulnerabilities, particularly for emergency response scenarios where communication infrastructure is often the first casualty of a disaster.

This is the core challenge addressed by the MECON Project, formally titled Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) over NTN for Beyond 5G & 6G. MECON represents a monumental collaborative effort to move beyond the limitations of existing infrastructure. Its primary objective is to research, design, and develop the sophisticated technologies required for the seamless integration of Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN), mainly Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite networks, into a unified, resilient network architecture that encompasses both current 5G systems and future 6G networks.