Satellites are integrated into vehicles. How can the Internet of Vehicles break through the bottleneck with the help of satellites?
It's hard to imagine that in today's era of highly convenient network communication, there are still approximately 2.6 billion people globally who cannot access the Internet, accounting for 32% of the world's total population.
This data comes from a report released by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in 2024. The union's Secretary-General, Doreen Bogdan-Martin, pointed out that currently, terrestrial networks only cover about 10% of the world's area.
The networks mentioned above mainly refer to traditional public mobile communication networks, which are the mobile phone networks we use in our daily lives.
Turning to the Internet of Vehicles (IoV) for automobiles, vehicles need to obtain real-time information about their surrounding environment and conduct high-speed, stable data interactions with the cloud, other vehicles, and road infrastructure.
Meanwhile, under no circumstances should there be signal interruptions or data loss. The IoV must achieve large-scale commercialization to ensure that automobiles can achieve "permanent connectivity" for safe travel.
Existing mobile communication networks have achieved relatively extensive coverage in densely populated urban areas. However, in special environments such as remote areas, oceans, and deserts, their coverage capabilities are very limited and cannot support the future development of the IoV.
For new mobile intelligent agents such as smart cars, there is an urgent need to explore a brand-new network solution to improve coverage capabilities at a lower cost.
Historical experience in technological development has proven that disruptive application breakthroughs often come from cross - border efforts. When the development of a certain field reaches a bottleneck, technology migration is more important than the technology itself.
The industry consensus is that it is necessary to break through the path dependence formed by mobile phone networks in the past, and the direction has become clear in practical exploration: Break through to the "sky" and build the automotive network with the help of satellite communication.
Actual Test Verification: From Vehicle - Road - Cloud to Vehicle - Road - "Satellite" - Cloud
Recently, GalaxySpace collaborated with the Smart Mobility Team of the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) to successfully verify the connected autonomous driving system using the low - Earth orbit (LEO) satellite Internet for the first time in Hong Kong. In an environment without terrestrial network coverage, the system achieved a deep integration of connected autonomous driving and LEO satellite communication, providing continuous and stable real - time communication services for intelligent connected vehicles through LEO satellites.
This breakthrough is not only a milestone for satellite communication enabling autonomous driving in the automotive industry but also created a new paradigm for the integrated evolution from "Vehicle - Road - Cloud" to "Vehicle - Road - Satellite - Cloud."
The satellite Internet is an Internet broadband network architecture that uses satellites as the access means. Currently, it mostly refers to the LEO broadband satellite Internet realized by using LEO satellites.
Different from terrestrial networks that rely on base stations for communication, the satellite Internet moves the base stations into outer space. Each satellite is equivalent to a mobile base station.
Limited by geographical conditions and construction costs, terrestrial base stations cannot form effective coverage in scenarios such as remote areas, oceans, deserts, mountains, and in - flight airplanes.
However, the space - based advantages of the satellite platform can perfectly solve the Internet access problems in the above - mentioned areas and even achieve global network coverage.
In this Hong Kong application case, the research team installed GalaxySpace's satellite mobile terminals on autonomous vehicles and connected to the autonomous driving cloud management platform developed by the team through LEO satellites. Relying on the "Small Spider Web" constellation composed of GalaxySpace's self - developed LEO broadband communication satellites, data transmission related to autonomous driving and the reception and execution of navigation information were carried out.
(The LEO broadband satellite demonstration station built by GalaxySpace in Hong Kong)
Through this connection, when there is construction or road diversion ahead of the vehicle, the cloud management platform can issue updated navigation information in real - time based on the current position of the autonomous vehicle, improving driving efficiency. During the test, a total of 3 LEO satellites passed through the test area successively and provided satellite network coverage.
Hong Kong has many islands and a large amount of mountainous terrain. There are blind spots in the communication network coverage in some areas, making it a typical application scenario for the satellite Internet.
Meanwhile, the low - latency characteristic of satellite communication was also fully demonstrated in this case. The test results show that LEO satellite communication can meet the low - latency data transmission requirements of autonomous vehicles, with an end - to - end data transmission latency of less than 100 milliseconds.
Regarding satellite communication supporting autonomous driving, Kang Yonglai, the founder of Tianbing Technology, once clearly pointed out that in terms of communication efficiency, LEO satellites have the core advantages of low latency, high reliability, and global seamless coverage, which are the core advantages of the new communication satellite research system after 5G in the world. Autonomous driving and driverless vehicles need to achieve centimeter - level positioning accuracy, and LEO satellites can solve this problem and also crack various current problems in the autonomous driving process.
As the next - generation network communication solution, the satellite Internet also has advantages such as low link loss, flexible launch, rich application scenarios, and low overall manufacturing cost. It has many key and practical functions such as enhanced communication, reconnaissance and surveillance, defense and early warning, positioning and navigation, and emergency rescue.
Technological Evolution: The "Space - Terrestrial Integration" Network Revolution, Satellite Communication is an Important Option
The satellite Internet is a technology that subverts the traditional network development path and is also an important trend in the global evolution of communication network technology.
Against the backdrop of people's continuous increasing requirements for network communication, the mobile Internet has developed from the 2G era to the 5G era, and the network speed has increased from the early 100 kbps to dozens of Gbps.
In the new era of the Internet of Everything, application scenarios represented by autonomous driving, the Internet of Things, telemedicine, and the industrial Internet are constantly expanding and deepening, putting forward higher requirements for network performance, and the limitations of 5G are emerging.
At the beginning of promoting the development of 5G communication in China, based on the three major application scenarios of 5G defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), three core directions were planned:
Enhanced Mobile Broadband aims to provide faster data transmission rates and larger network capacities; Ultra - Massive Machine Communication, that is, ultra - large - scale access, supports low - power wide - area connections for a large number of devices; Ultra - Reliable Low - Latency Communication ensures the real - time and reliability of critical task - type applications.
Judging from the actual commercialization progress, since the core resources and business focuses of telecom operators are concentrated on public mobile communication networks, the current focus of large - scale implementation of 5G technology is still on Enhanced Mobile Broadband. Although some breakthroughs have been made at the technical level in the originally planned Ultra - Reliable Low - Latency Communication for fields such as automobiles and industrial control, large - scale commercial applications have not yet been formed, and the actual development progress lags behind expectations.
The integration of the satellite Internet can enable 5G to break through its limitations. Relying on the advantages of the satellite Internet, such as global coverage, low transmission latency, lower cost, and higher performance, it can effectively complement terrestrial networks.
The 6G era is approaching. Based on the three major application scenarios of 5G communication technology, 6G further expands to six core application scenarios: Immersive Communication, Ultra - Massive Connection, Ultra - Reliable Low - Latency Communication, Ubiquitous Connection, Communication - AI Integration, and Communication - Sensing Integration.
Among them, "Ubiquitous Connection" aims to achieve global three - dimensional coverage, support the deep integration of terrestrial and non - terrestrial networks, and make communication services truly ubiquitous. The satellite Internet is the core support for the 6G "Ubiquitous Connection" scenario.
The "White Paper on the Overall Vision and Potential Key Technologies of 6G" by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology points out that realizing the integrated networking of space and ground is a key technology in the 6G era.
That is, combining terrestrial networks with satellite networks, using terrestrial networks to achieve normal coverage of urban hotspots, and using space - based and air - based networks to achieve on - demand coverage in remote areas, at sea, and in the air. Ultimately, deep integration of air - based, space - based, and ground - based networks will be achieved.
The evolution from 5G to 6G is by no means a simple linear upgrade of the traditional network path, but a disruptive transformation involving the entire communication network structure.
In this process, the satellite Internet will be deeply integrated with terrestrial communication networks to jointly build a space - terrestrial integrated network.
As a key infrastructure in the system, the satellite Internet is not only the key force to break through the limitations of 5G but also an indispensable core piece for 6G to embark on the "Starry Sea" journey.
It will play a crucial role in many fields such as global communication, the Internet of Things, and intelligent transportation, becoming a strategic fulcrum for promoting human society towards the era of full - domain interconnection and endowing the future network development with infinite possibilities.
Cost Reconstruction: The Integrated Networking of "5G + Satellite + PC5", a Better Solution for Economies of Scale
The five ministries and commissions announced the list of pilot cities for the Vehicle - Road - Cloud system, and the Vehicle - Road - Cloud system is accelerating its leap from pilot demonstration to large - scale commercialization.
For a long time in the past, the Vehicle - Road - Cloud integrated system highly relied on the PC5 link to build the communication foundation. PC5 is a direct - connection communication method between terminals and is responsible for short - range data interaction.
However, practice has proven that relying solely on PC5 is not the optimal solution. Although PC5 has the technical advantages of low latency and high reliability, it has systematic defects that are difficult to overcome.
First, a large number of roadside units (RSUs) need to be installed on the roadside to undertake the important task of communication between the road, vehicles, and the platform, resulting in high construction costs.
A report from Guolian Securities shows that in the 1.0 and 2.0 projects of the Beijing Yizhuang Intelligent Connected Vehicle Demonstration Area, 256 RSUs were deployed in an area of 60 square kilometers, covering 329 intelligent intersections. Estimated at a unit price of 50,000 yuan, the cost of RSU equipment exceeded 10 million yuan. Statistics from the official WeChat account of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology show that more than 8,700 RSUs have been deployed nationwide. Calculated at the same unit price, the cost of RSUs exceeded 400 million yuan.
However, the previously deployed RSU equipment was mainly concentrated in the demonstration areas. If aiming at the future large - scale commercialization of the Vehicle - Road - Cloud system and deploying them nationwide, the required capital investment would be even greater, which obviously violates the economic principle of communication infrastructure construction.
Second, as a broadcast network, the economic value and application scenarios of PC5 are relatively limited. There is a lack of national - level coordination and continuous large - scale regular optimization.
At the "Vehicle - Road - Cloud 50 - Person Forum - Seminar on the Construction of 5G Private Networks for Vehicle - Cloud", a wireless IoV product management expert from Huawei pointed out that in the absence of roadside coverage and network applications, the willingness of vehicle - end installation is low, and the penetration rate of PC5 at the vehicle end is less than 1%.
The expert further emphasized, "The core of the IoV lies in the vehicle, and the key to the application is to solve the problem of vehicle - end penetration. The current evolution of 5G networks and 5G - A technology can fully meet the business requirements of the IoV. 5G has achieved large - scale national coverage, which will greatly lower the threshold for industrial deployment and provide feasible support for large - scale implementation."
Third, the Vehicle - Road - Cloud system also needs the support of a centralized network, and a simple PC5 link cannot provide a complete system - level solution.
For this reason, the industry has gradually realized that the past focus on investing only in the PC5 link has begun to restrict the development process of the Vehicle - Road - Cloud integrated system. It is time to introduce a systematic solution and adopt an integrated networking model.
Currently, the mainstream network construction idea in the industry is to rely on the 5G network foundation to achieve wide coverage, adopt the integrated networking of 5G Uu and PC5 in key/complex intersection scenarios, and add RSUs as needed.
This model utilizes the characteristics of large bandwidth and wide coverage of 5G Uu and the advantages of low latency and high reliability of PC5 to solve the problems of large - scale deployment, continuous coverage, and cost control, and improve the overall communication performance.
Meanwhile, reusing the roadside docking experience accumulated by PC5 in the demonstration areas helps operators break through the bottlenecks of data authorization and infrastructure interconnection.
However, the full - scale deployment of 5G macro - base stations is extremely costly. In the short term, it can basically only meet the coverage of urban areas.
According to data from Bikochi Microelectronics, to achieve global coverage, at least 10 million 5G outdoor macro - base stations need to be built. The cost for operators to purchase and deploy a single 5G macro - base station is about 160,000 yuan, and the overall investment will exceed 1.6 trillion yuan.
If 10 million 5G macro - base stations are deployed, the annual electricity cost corresponding to the power consumption will be as high as 150 billion yuan.
If the satellite Internet with global coverage advantages participates in the networking, the existing IoV will achieve a leap - forward upgrade from a regional network (i.e., the urban IoV) to a full - domain network (i.e., achieving full - scale land networking), thus building a real - sense IoV.
A minimum of only a few hundred LEO satellites in a constellation can achieve global coverage. The cost of a single satellite in the US Starlink project is about 500,000 US dollars, and the research and development cost of a single satellite of China's GalaxySpace has been reduced to the tens of millions level. Based on comprehensive industry judgments and practical situations, the unit price of future civilian satellites is expected to drop to the million - level.
In addition, there is no need to pay land rent for satellite deployment. After completion, there is basically no continuous operation cost except for equipment depreciation. As the user scale expands, the unit cost will continue to decrease, and the economies of scale advantage will become more prominent.
The development process of the industry is always closely combined with technological iteration, policy orientation, and resource endowment, and faces different development route choices at different stages.
In the future, under the space - terrestrial integrated network architecture, the integrated networking of the IoV will integrate the triple technological foundation of "5G/6G Mobile Communication Network + Satellite Internet + PC5 Direct - Connection Communication" to build a new basic communication infrastructure system with wider coverage and better efficiency, reconstruct the cost structure, and achieve better economies of scale.
Strategic Positioning: A Must - Compete High - Ground for Countries, a New Battlefield for Automobile Enterprises
Against the backdrop of the global communication network accelerating its evolution and transformation towards a "Space - Terrestrial Integration" architecture, the satellite Internet has become a strategic must - compete area for countries to seize the future communication high - ground.
"If we lack an independent and controllable industrial ecosystem, we will lose our voice in the standard - setting of international telecommunication organizations," a communication industry expert emphasized to the "Vehicle - Road - Cloud 50 - Person" group. "Through the forward - looking layout of the satellite network, we are actually seizing the strategic high - ground for the formulation of the next - generation communication standards. This kind of positioning is crucial for future industrial competition."
Since the National Development and Reform Commission included the satellite Internet in the "New Infrastructure" category in April 2020, the development of China's satellite Internet has entered the fast lane.
At the beginning of 2025, the