China’s satellite communication industrialization process is accelerating.
According to China Business News, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has officially issued the “Notice on Organizing Satellite IoT Business Commercial Trials” (hereinafter referred to as the “Notice”), announcing the launch of a two-year satellite IoT commercial trial nationwide.
According to the “Notice”, the so-called satellite IoT business refers to a low-speed data service that provides wide-area IoT connectivity for various devices such as data collection terminals, wearable devices, handheld terminals, as well as vehicles, ships, and aircraft through satellite communication technology.
The “Notice” requires enterprises applying to conduct satellite IoT commercial trials to build a satellite IoT system, as well as business support systems (BSS), operational support systems (OSS), and management support systems (MSS), to legally and in accordance with regulations carry out satellite IoT business nationwide.
The MIIT stated that this trial aims to enrich the supply of the satellite communication market, stimulate the vitality of market entities, enhance industry service capabilities, establish a safety supervision system, and form replicable and promotable experiences and models to support the safe and healthy development of emerging industries such ascommercial space, andlow-altitude economy.
It is worth noting that just this August, the MIIT released the “Guiding Opinions on Optimizing Business Access to Promote the Development of the Satellite Communication Industry”. It proposed that by 2030, China aims to achieve large-scale applications of new models such as direct satellite connections for mobile phones, developing over ten million satellite communication users.
The introduction of multiple combinatorial policies has further clarified the roadmap for the development of China’s satellite communication. Omdia telecom strategy analyst Yang Guang told reporters from China Business News that the connection rate of satellite IoT is relatively low, and by prioritizing the connection needs of IoT devices to satellites, a solid foundation will be laid for the subsequent development of high-speed satellite communication.
Industrialization Approaches Maturity
The launch of satellite IoT commercial trials also marks the entry of China’s satellite communication industry into a new era.
Communication analyst Zhou Guijun told reporters that since 2000, China’s satellite communication has primarily focused on specialized scenarios such as industry private networks, emergency communications, and ocean-going vessels. In the past decade, with the explosive demand for low-power wide-area IoT (LPWA) devices and the decrease in manufacturing and launch costs for low-orbit satellites, satellite IoT has gradually evolved from “point testing” to large-scale commercialization.
From a specific context, satellite IoT has evolved from early narrowband link-based industry connections to a large-scale application system targeting marine fisheries,smart agriculture, energy inspection, and emergency communications. Therefore, in Zhou Guijun’s view, the MIIT’s issuance and launch of nationwide satellite IoT commercial trials provide a policy “accelerator” for this transformation.
Behind the policy issuance is the overall industry reaching a mature opportunity. In the upstream satellite manufacturing and launch sector, national teams represented by China Satellite Network and China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation have laid the foundation for infrastructure, while commercial space enterprises such as Galaxy Space, State Grid High-tech, and Micro-Nano Starry Sky have made breakthrough progress in low-orbit small satellite manufacturing and networking. In particular, the low-cost, fast-response “one rocket, multiple satellites” launch capability has significantly lowered the threshold for networking.
In the midstream operations and terminal side, it is noted that the core entities of this commercial trial, in addition to the three major operators, also include many private enterprises that have obtained approval for commercial trials, which are committed to miniaturizing and reducing the power consumption of satellite communication modules, enabling them to be embedded in containers, heavy machinery, and even wearable devices like ordinary chips.
In terms of application scenarios, satellite IoT is penetrating from traditional industrial fields such as ocean fishing and oil pipeline monitoring into more consumer-oriented areas. For instance, the recent launch of the “direct satellite connection” feature by several new energy vehicle companies, as well as the SOS rescue service of outdoor wearable devices, have become attempts at consumer-end applications of satellite IoT.
More importantly, Zhou Guijun believes that as the “low-altitude economy” is included in the “Government Work Report”, the demand for regulation and communication in drone logistics and eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft) is surging. Traditional ground base stations struggle to provide continuous coverage in low-altitude airspace, making satellite IoT an indispensable digital infrastructure.
Driven by various factors, China’s satellite IoT industry also has a promising market outlook for large-scale commercialization. According to predictions from the Taiber Think Tank, the annual compound growth rate of China’s satellite IoT from 2024 to 2028 will exceed 40%, and it is expected that by 2028, the market size of China’s satellite IoT will approach 10 billion yuan.
After years of market-oriented operations, China’s communication industry has also gained ample experience in such experimental commercialization. Zhou Guijun pointed out that this “Notice” still adopts a more flexible regulatory sandbox model through “commercial trials”, encouraging enterprises to take the lead in trials, similar to the logic of opening up for virtual operators, aiming to promote the maturity of technology and business models through moderate deregulation.
Commercial Space Development Moves Towards Standardization
As the satellite IoT commercial trials commence, commercial space, as the supporting infrastructure of the satellite communication industry, is also rapidly moving towards standardization.
According to multiple media reports, the National Defense Science and Technology Industry Bureau has recently established the Commercial Space Department, which is currently in the personnel recruitment stage. The industry believes this marks the formal entry of China’s commercial space from early technological exploration into a standardized development phase. Satellite IoT, as the core application scenario of satellite communication, has also become a key link driving the development of commercial space.
Looking back at the development trajectory of the industry, China’s commercial space has achieved a leap from “single-point testing” to “constellation networking” in the past five years, with low-orbit constellations represented by Qianfan and GW entering the stage of batch launches and normalized networking, while ground and terminal capabilities have been simultaneously enhanced, providing basic transport capacity for satellite IoT. Yang Guang believes that the acceleration of constellation deployment is a key condition for promoting satellite IoT from specialized scenarios to popularization and large-scale expansion.
At the same time, the localization of core components and terminals is also accelerating. During the 2025 World Mobile Congress in Shanghai, it was reported thatChina Mobile has launched two domestically produced satellite communication chips and IoT modules based on the RISC-V architecture. In addition, China Mobile has also launched an integrated IoT management platform and two domestically produced satellite IoT modules, as well as satellite IoT application solutions covering logistics, electricity, and water conservancy, indicating a clear targeted layout.
The efforts of the upstream and downstream industrial chains also provide significant space for market growth. According to predictions from the China Business Industry Research Institute, the market size of China’s commercial space is expected to reach approximately 2.3 trillion yuan by 2024 and 2.8 trillion yuan by 2025, demonstrating strong growth potential. Behind this is the vigorous development of over 70,000 commercial space-related enterprises in the country.
Zhou Guijun believes that for a long time, the investment logic of China’s commercial space industry has mainly been “technology-driven”, meaning investment in rocket technology and satellite platforms. However, only when the infrastructure is built can application-driven business models truly take shape. The upcoming two-year satellite IoT commercial trial is a crucial step in transforming the value of commercial space from “technological capability” to “market service”.
The Commercial Space Department may establish a market access mechanism and improve the safety supervision system to provide policy guarantees for trial commercialization, such as simplifying the approval process for satellite IoT terminals and standardizing spectrum resource usage, thereby stimulating the vitality of private enterprises. Meanwhile, trial commercialization may provide large-scale application scenarios for commercial space, driving down costs across the entire industry chain and ultimately promoting overall industry development.
Challenges of Cost and Spectrum Remain
Although the trend of satellite communication industrialization is on the rise, industry insiders believe that spectrum and cost are two major challenges facing the current industry.
Zhou Guijun stated that satellite communication involves multiple frequency bands and systems coexisting, and how to achieve spectrum coexistence and dynamic allocation between 3GPP NTN (Non-Terrestrial Network Technology), traditional satellite frequency bands, and ground mobile communications is a problem that requires both technical and regulatory attention. Experiences from the International Telecommunication Union and various countries show that while mechanisms such as spectrum sharing and LSA (Link State Protocol Usage) are feasible, they require refined regulation and real-time monitoring capabilities; otherwise, they may lead to interference and fluctuations in service quality.
Previously, several domestic satellite industry professionals indicated that low-orbit satellite operational orbital resources and radio frequency resources are scarce, and foreign giants have already occupied a large amount of quality frequency orbital resources at a rapid deployment speed. Therefore, China’s constellations need to race against time to ensure networking is completed within the deadlines set by the ITU (International Telecommunication Union), or they risk having their resources reclaimed.
This risk is increasing with the advancement of 6G technology development, which is compatible with global satellite communication. Chinese Academy of Engineering academician Wu Hequan previously pointed out that due to geopolitical and industrial competition, global 6G technology standards and industrial systems face the risk of fragmentation, and therefore, the global industry must work hard to avoid this situation.
Beyond spectrum, cost is another significant challenge. Galaxy Securities previously pointed out that the unit bandwidth cost of satellite communication in China is 5 to 8 times that of ground communication, and terminal prices remain high, restricting the widespread adoption of applications. In comparison, SpaceX’s “Starlink” has achieved profitability, while most domestic enterprises still rely on policy subsidies, lacking the ability to generate revenue commercially.
Zhou Guijun believes that while the reusable technology of commercial rockets and the mass production of satellites are reducing launch costs, converting these costs into user-acceptable service prices remains challenging. In the context of fierce price competition in the ground cellular network, how to set a reasonable price range for satellite communication services that covers costs while attracting users is a commercial dilemma that midstream operators must solve.
Additionally, Zhou Guijun believes that although the costs of satellite communication chip modules have been decreasing, they are still several times higher than those of mature 4G/5G modules. Especially in price-sensitive IoT scenarios, such as container tracking and agriculturalsensor applications, the high terminal costs become a major obstacle to large-scale deployment.
Under these dual challenges, achieving leadership in China’s satellite communication industry remains a long way to go. How the Chinese satellite communication industry, which has entered the fast track of industrialization driven by policy and market maturity, responds will be a focal point of attention in the coming period.