China has taken another step toward opening satellite communications to private companies. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has authorized Zhejiang Geespace Technology, a space company tied to the Geely group, to run a two-year commercial pilot of satellite Internet of Things (IoT) services. Geespace can now legally operate these services using the first phase of the Geely Future Mobility constellation.
Geespace’s satellite IoT in 20 seconds
- China’s regulator has granted Geespace a two-year experimental commercial authorization.
- It’s the second private company to get such permission in China, after Guodian Gaoke in May.
- Geespace currently has 64 satellites in orbit in its initial constellation.
- The services target transportation, fishing, energy, water, and other areas short on land coverage.
- Beijing wants to widen private participation in satellite communications step by step.
Who came first actually matters here. Some international reports called Geespace China’s first private company cleared for this kind of testing. But official sources and Chinese financial media say it’s the second, since Beijing Guodian Gaoke Technology got an equivalent authorization on May 6 to run its Tianqi constellation.
The move is part of a wider regulatory opening. China started commercial satellite IoT testing in November 2025, after years when the main satellite telecom licenses sat mostly with large state-owned enterprises. Private firms had a much bigger role in building satellites, launches, and applications, but far less in running networks directly.
Geespace can turn its constellation into a commercial service
The authorization changes Geespace’s standing as an operator.
Over the next two years, it can pilot commercial IoT services on the Geely Future Mobility Constellation, a low Earth orbit (LEO) network the company built.
MIIT spells out three features for these services: broad coverage, low power use, and high reliability. The first applications will cover smart transportation, maritime fishing, energy, and water management, through automated data collection and remote device interaction.
Satellite IoT isn’t the same as broadband links like Starlink that give homes or businesses internet. Its job is to move small amounts of data between machines, sensors, and platforms in places where cellular networks are weak or hard to build.
A ship can send its position and navigation data. A sensor on energy infrastructure can report periodic readings, and machinery in remote areas can send its status without a nearby 4G or 5G antenna.
So the Chinese regulator treats these networks as a complement to broadband satellite internet, not necessarily a replacement.
Geespace also has infrastructure in place already.
The company currently has 64 satellites in orbit, according to the Zhejiang Communications Administration. The initial plan calls for 72 satellites, with eight backups.
The project has moved fast. In September 2024, Geely said it had reached 30 satellites, enough to cover roughly 90% of the planet around the clock. At the time, the group said the first phase would finish with 72 satellites offering low- and medium-speed communications.
From Geely cars to ships, drones, and machinery
Geespace’s automotive roots explain part of its strategy.
It sits inside the tech ecosystem of Geely, one of China’s big automotive groups, and its constellation was designed from the start around connected mobility.
The commercial uses are spreading past cars, though.
In Taizhou, Zhejiang, satellite terminals are going onto 60 fishing vessels, and the technology is also used for low-altitude drone operations. Geespace has supplied more than 20,000 terminals installed in vehicles, per Zhejiang authorities.
The company is also pushing its platform beyond China.
Official sources in Zhejiang say it has partnerships with telecom operators in more than 20 countries. Geely has previously announced projects and services in markets like Oman and Malaysia.
Geespace also says it has taken orders tied to its LEO communication ecosystem worth more than 100 million yuan, about 12 million euros at current rates.
Those numbers don’t yet put satellite IoT on the level of major mobile networks, but they show China is testing revenue-generating uses while it keeps building large space infrastructure.
China opens a market long reserved for state companies
The decision has a regulatory side that reaches beyond Geespace.
For years, basic satellite telecom licenses in China sat mostly with large state-owned enterprises. Private firms could build satellites, make components, join launches, or sell applications, but ran into real barriers to becoming direct communications operators.
That model is starting to shift.
In November 2025, MIIT launched a formal program for commercial satellite IoT testing. That month, China’s State Council published measures meant to level the field for private investment in commercial space, including frequency management and launch approvals.
The first license came in May 2026.
Beijing Guodian Gaoke Technology got permission then to run commercial services over Tianqi, its own LEO IoT constellation, for two years. That network currently has 41 satellites and offers global coverage for uses like fishing, energy, logistics, agriculture, emergency response, and asset tracking.
The license now going to Geespace confirms Guodian Gaoke’s approval wasn’t a one-off.
MIIT frames this new approval as a step to open satellite IoT further to private companies. It also says it will review market-access conditions while raising oversight and security requirements.
None of this means China has fully liberalized satellite telecom. These are experimental two-year authorizations inside a regulated framework.
IoT may be one of the first commercial uses of satellite 6G
Behind these tests sits the development of future 6G networks.
Geespace has finished ground tests based on 3GPP IoT NTN, a set of specifications that lets non-terrestrial networks integrate with standardized mobile technologies. It’s also working on satellite communication tied to 6G.
The broader idea is that future mobile networks will gradually blend terrestrial and space-based infrastructure.
Satellites don’t need to replace urban mobile antennas, where terrestrial networks still carry far more capacity. They add value over oceans, deserts, mountains, farms, energy infrastructure, and logistics corridors, where building base stations is costly or simply not possible.
China is testing that model ahead of commercial 6G.
IoT also offers a relatively easy entry point, since many applications don’t need the throughput of video streaming. An industrial sensor, a container, a vehicle, or a ship can work with small messages sent now and then.
The next test will be economic: whether enough companies will pay for the connectivity to sustain the constellations and terminals.
The licenses for Guodian Gaoke and Geespace will give Chinese regulators that data. Over two years, they can weigh demand, security, technical performance, and business models before deciding how far to widen private access to these tightly controlled parts of telecom.
Frequently Asked Questions
What license has Geespace received in China?
MIIT has authorized Geespace to run a two-year commercial trial of satellite IoT services using the first phase of its Geely Future Mobility constellation.
Is Geespace the first private Chinese company with this authorization?
No. Some international outlets framed it that way, but Beijing Guodian Gaoke Technology got the first authorization in May 2026. Zhejiang authorities identify Geespace as the second private company approved.
How many satellites does Geespace have?
It currently operates 64 satellites in orbit. Its initial constellation plan calls for 72 satellites, plus eight backups.
What is satellite IoT used for?
It connects sensors, vehicles, ships, machinery, and other devices where terrestrial networks have little or no coverage. Uses include transportation, fishing, logistics, energy, agriculture, and infrastructure management.
