China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has recently approved Zhejiang Space-Tech & Time-DaoYu Technology Co., Ltd. to conduct commercial trials for satellite IoT services, with the trial period set for two years. This marks a further expansion of satellite IoT business openness to the private sector.
During the trial phase, the company is permitted to pilot satellite IoT services in accordance with regulations, leveraging the "Geely Future Travel Constellation (Phase I)" to provide users with wide-coverage, low-power, and highly reliable IoT connectivity. The services aim to enable all-weather, intelligent data collection and remote interaction across sectors such as smart transportation, marine fisheries, and energy and water conservancy.
Satellite IoT is a communication method that relies on satellite systems for low-rate data transmission, capable of achieving global signal coverage. This allows sensors, vehicles, ships, and other devices located in areas without ground network signals to transmit data. As the commercialization of China's satellite communications industry accelerates, satellite IoT is set to become a significant complement to broadband satellite internet.
Previously, the MIIT had already approved Beijing Guodian Gaoke Technology Co., Ltd. to conduct satellite IoT commercial trials. Space-Tech & Time-DaoYu is now the second private enterprise to receive such approval. To date, the company has successfully completed the first phase of its constellation networking, operating the low-orbit IoT constellation with the most in-orbit satellites in China, capable of serving 20 million users globally. It has also promoted commercial deployment across ten major scenarios, including intelligent connected vehicles and marine fisheries, and has taken the lead in mass-producing vehicles with pre-installed satellite communication capabilities.
"This approval marks a key transition for us, moving from technology development to network operations," said Wang Yang, CEO of Space-Tech & Time-DaoYu. He added that the company will continue to advance constellation construction and network capability enhancement, while also focusing on key industries such as intelligent connectivity, marine, water conservancy, engineering machinery, and energy to accelerate the large-scale deployment of mature application scenarios, pushing satellite IoT from commercial testing toward regular commercial use. He revealed that the company has already established cooperation with operators in more than 20 overseas countries.
A representative from the MIIT's Telecommunications Administration Bureau stated that organizing commercial trials for satellite IoT services is conducive to fostering scale effects in the sector and building a development framework characterized by standardized order, coordinated growth, complementary advantages, and mutually beneficial cooperation. This latest commercial trial approval is expected to invigorate the private economy and support the development of the commercial space industry.