Geely's Geespace wins a two-year permit to run commercial satellite IoT in China
Geely's space venture Geespace has been cleared by China's industry ministry to trial commercial satellite Internet-of-Things services for two years, only the second private operator granted such a licence.
- 2 years
- 64 (of 72 planned)
- ~340 million
What Happened
In a notice posted on Thursday, the country's industry regulator, the MIIT, said Geespace, the aerospace unit of Geely Holding, may run a two-year pilot of satellite IoT services using its Geely Future Mobility Constellation. That makes it the second private firm to enter the national trial framework, after Beijing Guodian Gaoke, and shifts such operators from merely launching satellites into offering regulated services. The regulator listed transport, fisheries, energy and water among the intended uses.
The network behind the licence is now complete for its opening phase. A September 2025 launch of a dozen satellites on one rocket took the count in orbit to 64, out of a planned 72 that include eight spares, all circling in low orbit roughly 600 km up. Geely says the system handles around 340 million connection requests each day and can serve 20 million users. The service is built for short bursts of sensor and location data rather than ordinary web access, and earns its keep where ground networks do not reach.
Cars are already the main customer. Geespace has shipped more than 20,000 satellite terminals into production vehicles, among them the Geely Galaxy Starshine 8 and E8, the Lynk & Co 900 and the Zeekr 001 FR and 009 Grand. Geely's ride-hailing arm, Cao Cao Mobility, plans to test the link on its robotaxis so a control centre can watch, dispatch and step in remotely.
Beyond the road, the kit is fitted to law-enforcement boats in Zhejiang, and Taizhou is putting it on a first run of 60 fishing vessels. Abroad, Geespace works with telecom operators across more than 20 markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America; it has landed orders in Middle Eastern and South American markets, and in January signed a deal with Pakistan's state operator Paksat.
Why this matters
The approval moves a carmaker-owned satellite network from launching hardware toward selling connectivity, and it underpins the in-car satellite messaging Geely already fits to Zeekr and Lynk & Co models. It marks a step toward an automaker commercialising its own orbital infrastructure.
Terms in This Story
- EV
- Electric vehicle, a vehicle powered fully or partly by electricity.
- OTA
- Over-the-air update, a software update delivered remotely to a vehicle.
- ICE
- Internal combustion engine, the conventional petrol or diesel engine type.
A brief summary; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.