The vast oceans, remote mountainous areas, and even flying unmanned aerial vehicles will achieve seamless Internet of Things connectivity through satellites. On November 22, at the 2025 China 5G+Industrial Internet Conference held in Wuhan, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology officially announced the launch of commercial trials for satellite IoT services. This two-year trial program aims to enrich the supply of the satellite communication market, stimulate the vitality of business entities, and establish a safe regulatory system.
Satellite IoT refers to the connection of various IoT devices through satellite communication technology, providing low-speed data services for data collection terminals, wearable devices, vehicles, ships, aircraft, and other means of transportation. In August, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology had already released the “Guiding Opinions on Optimizing Business Access to Promote the Development of the Satellite Communication Industry,” proposing a target of over ten million satellite communication users by 2030.
Satellite Communication Enters the Fast Lane
The Chinese satellite communication industry is accelerating towards 2025. In August, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released 19 measures, clearly proposing to orderly expand the opening of the satellite communication market, continuously expand application scenarios, and cultivate and grow the industrial ecosystem. The launch of the satellite IoT commercial trial is a concrete implementation of the above policies.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology stated that the trial will support qualified enterprises to legally and compliantly carry out satellite IoT business, further stimulating the vitality of the private economy and promoting the deep integration of the real economy and the digital economy. From a global perspective, experts from the International Telecommunication Union pointed out: “Satellite communication is the pillar of the global space economy, with direct economic spillover effects, promoting the development of global internet, logistics, and national defense.”
The commercialization of satellite IoT technology will completely break the limitations of ground network coverage. In the agricultural sector, satellite IoT can connect various IoT devices scattered in remote rural environments, from drones monitoring crop growth to soil sensors used for efficient irrigation. In emergency communications, marine fisheries, transportation logistics, energy, and water conservancy, satellite IoT also has broad application space. Especially in the low-altitude economy, satellite IoT can provide reliable communication support for drones and flying cars, supporting the safe and healthy development of this emerging industry.
Trillion-level Industrial Ecosystem Accelerating Formation
The launch of the satellite IoT commercial trial indicates that the related industrial chain will welcome development opportunities. By the end of the third quarter of 2025, China Mobile and China Unicom have been authorized to carry out satellite mobile communication services, marking a new stage for basic telecom operators to fully enter the integrated network construction of space and ground.
The large-scale commercialization of satellite IoT relies on technological innovation. Professor Raphael Kagerin, former head of future projects at the European Space Agency, stated: “Establishing a credible data pillar is crucial for truly unleashing large-scale downstream innovation.” On-orbit data processing has become a key technological breakthrough. A prototype mission from the European Space Agency is exploring this concept, eliminating over 95% of collected images through extensive filtering, reducing the burden on downstream processors.
China is also actively promoting the deep synergy between 5G/6G and satellite internet. The deep integration networking technology developed by China Mobile reduces the number of satellite networks by 50% and the cost per satellite by 10% through intelligent heterogeneous networking, frequency sharing, and resource scheduling algorithms.
Investment Opportunities Across the Entire Industry Chain Emerge
The rise of the satellite IoT industry will drive investment opportunities across the entire industry chain. From the perspective of capital flow, over 30 major financing events have been completed in China’s satellite communication field between 2024 and 2025, involving key areas such as on-board processing chip development and high-throughput satellite manufacturing.
Xing Xing, director of the Bostone Securities Research Institute, pointed out that policy dividends will deeply activate three major capital market segments: satellite manufacturing and launch services, terminal equipment and ground systems, and operational services and data applications. The industrial trend shows three major characteristics: the technological route is evolving towards large-scale networking of low-orbit constellations, with the cost per satellite decreasing by 67% compared to five years ago; the service model is transforming from single transmission to comprehensive information services of “communication + navigation + remote sensing”; and the construction of security protection systems has become a new investment hotspot.
Experts suggest that investors can focus on thematic opportunities catalyzed by policies in the short term, and in the medium to long term, lay out targets with strong commercialization capabilities of core technologies. Satellite IoT will completely eliminate the coverage blind spots of ground networks, providing ubiquitous connectivity for marine fisheries, transportation logistics, and the low-altitude economy. With the launch of the two-year commercial trial, Chinese enterprises will explore the business model of satellite IoT, injecting new momentum into the global digital economy. The integration of satellite IoT with 5G and the industrial internet is driving China into a new era of digitalization that integrates space and ground.
Source: Shanghai Securities Journal
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