The automaker has launched its own satellites in space, highlighting China’s ambitions
Earlier this month, Chinese aerospace company Geespace said it had sent 11 orbit satellites. Satellites have increased in the fourth launch of Geespace rockets since 2022, bringing its total “constellation iot” from 30 to 41 satellites. At the end of this year, he has ambitions to deploy 72 satellites, which will provide global coverage of data “excluding only in polar regions”, according to a press release.
Like any other satellite enterprise, Geespace has relations with several telecommunications companies, distributed in more than 20 countries, to provide high speed internet services and other connectivity services. Earlier this year, he signed new agreements with Moroccan, Malaysian and Saudi companies.
But Geespace also belongs to the parent company of Geely, the second car manufacturer in China, which also sells vehicles on five continents. This means that the launch of the rocket and the constellation in low development orbit also have a folding of mobility. Geespace claims that satellites will provide support for advanced driver assistance systems in cars and commercial vehicles, “considerably improving the safety and convenience of travel”. (The company has also opened the possibility of supporting systems of other vehicles.)
This makes Geely the only world car manufacturer with its own dedicated satellite internet constellation And A public plan to integrate this connectivity into its advanced driving technology. At a time when most world car manufacturers are struggling through simultaneous crises – a rocky transition to electric vehicles; Confused and confused approaches to software; questions around the future of autonomy; Global economic upheavals and commercial reorientations; And the rise of Chinese car manufacturers – the Spatial game of the Chinese automaker demonstrates a real long -term international strategy.
“Geely has the reach, he has the capital, and obviously, he has the capacity to orbit satellites,” explains you, the founder and managing director of Sino Auto Insights, a council. The automaker is undoubtedly the most international of Chinese vehicle companies. In addition to its popular brands Geely Galaxy, Zeekr and Lynk & Co, his parent company holds the majority of Volvo and Lotus cars, almost half of the company EV Polestar and 17% of Aston Martin. In 2018, the founder and president of Geely Li Shufu bought a participation of almost 10% in Mercedes-Benz. The exploitation of its own infrastructure in space could help support all these brands in the future. “There is no doubt that Geely has international ambitions,” explains the. “It simply reinforces the state of mind that Geely will be a world player.”
Continuing to develop on a global scale could be existential not only for Geely, but also the larger Chinese automotive industry. The Chinese government has tried to buffer a long -standing automotive war which has experienced a round after aggressive cuts while the country exceeds tens of millions of vehicles per year. The manufacturer of EV byd, who overthrew Tesla this year as a number one seller of the new energy vehicle globe, has been the subject of a special examination. The Chinese government and industry officials compared the situation to the Chinese real estate developer Evergrande; The collapse of the company in 2021 plunged the nation into economic disorders. Healthier growth could depend on international exports, which increased by 300% between 2021 and 2024 despite American and European trade barriers to Chinese cars.
Global positioning
Satellite communications should have increased advantages for advanced automotive technologies and people who buy equipped cars. They can give very specific vehicle software, data at the level of centimeters on cars on the road, as well as stable (and redundant) connections, which allow better route planning and driving efficiency, Fanni Li, a main research analyst focusing on automotive technology at S&P Global Mobility, written in an email. Currently, this type of data could help cars to perform security functions by themselves: stay in tracks, avoid specific collisions. One day, however, satellite communications could help autonomous vehicles, those without driver, maintain constant connectivity in a way that today’s cellular networks cannot, in particular in places where cell infrastructure is uneven or non -existent.
Geely has already announced that he will capitalize on his satellite capacities. Several Geely models, including the Geely Galaxy Xinyao 8 Phev Sedan, the LYNK & CO 900 PHEV SUV and the Electric Zeekr 001, are delivered with satellite communication technologies.
