China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has awarded Geespace, the satellite subsidiary of automaker Geely, a two-year commercial trial licence for low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite IoT services — only the second such authorisation the regulator has issued.

The licence lets Geespace, formally known as Zhejiang SpaceTime Aerospace Technology, offer wide-coverage, low-power IoT services using its existing first-generation Geesatcom LEO constellation, which counted 64 satellites in orbit as of September 2026. The company is targeting transport, fisheries, energy and water sectors with all-weather, continuous data collection.

MIIT granted the first satellite IoT trial licence in May 2026 to Guodian Gaoke, a privately owned Chinese aerospace company whose Tianqi constellation now numbers 41 satellites. In July, Zhongyi Capital, a subsidiary of market leader China Mobile, reportedly became Guodian Gaoke's largest shareholder with a stake of nearly 40 per cent — a signal that incumbent operators see value in non-terrestrial IoT.

Spectrum choices set the two licensees apart from the 3GPP mainstream. Both Geespace and Guodian Gaoke run proprietary, non-standardised services in UHF and VHF bands. The frequencies concerned may be the same sub-GHz allocations designated for so-called "Little LEOs" at WRC-92: 137–138 MHz, 148–150.05 MHz, 399.9–400.05 MHz and 400.15–401 MHz. Those bands were originally licensed to LEO-based location and messaging services such as Orbcomm.

The logic behind sub-GHz remains the same today as in the early 1990s. Terminals can be built from widely available radio components, keeping device costs down, and the bands offer wide coverage well suited to small, low-power IoT devices. The drawback is limited bandwidth — though probably sufficient for the narrowband services satellite IoT envisions.

A standards campaign with an uncertain outcome

Geespace wants its chosen band written into 3GPP non-terrestrial network (NTN) standards. In July, the 5G NTN working group of China's IMT-2020 (5G) Promotion Group approved a Geespace-backed study on incorporating UHF/VHF bands into the 3GPP NTN standard.

The obstacles are considerable. The L-band and S-band (3GPP bands n255 and n256) are already internationally allocated for mobile satellite services and underpin standardised NTN. PolicyTracker asked Geespace for an update on its campaign but had received no reply by publication.

The commercial trial licence came with preconditions, including spectrum licensing, which Geespace has satisfied.

Overseas partnerships fill a demand gap at home

Geespace has already lined up international partners. In 2025 it formed Altel Digital, a joint venture with Malaysia's Altel Group, to combine Geespace's LEO capability with Altel's terrestrial LTE infrastructure. Altel holds 900 MHz and 2.6 GHz licences. In early 2026, Geespace signed a cooperation agreement with Pakistani satellite operator Paksat International to support LEO-based services in Pakistan and nearby markets.

Guodian Gaoke has moved in parallel, forming a strategic alliance in Malaysia with local satellite operator Measat and Chinese firm Starwin to offer satellite IoT there.

The cross-border push reflects the structure of domestic demand. "Demand is limited in China where the biggest customer is the state," said Blaine Curcio of Orbital Gateway Consulting. "No choice but to go overseas to find demand."

Curcio likened Guodian Gaoke to "a little like an early version of Globalstar or Iridium", but sees Geespace as a different proposition. "Yes, it will offer IoT like early Globalstar or Iridium but is also integrating the service into parent Geely's vehicles, which is interesting. The company is also talking about offering satellite direct-to-device (D2D) services. It has worked with China Unicom, having jointly launched four satellites with them last year. It can build its own satellites too," he said. Conceptually, he added, one can draw comparisons with SpaceX and Tesla, "although obviously Geespace is at a far earlier stage of development."

The automotive integration is tangible. Geespace has developed proprietary satellite positioning chips built into some of Geely's Zeekr and Galaxy electric cars, and Geely recently announced its Galaxy Cruiser 700 hybrid off-road SUV will offer LEO connectivity via its own user terminals, enabling emergency communications in remote areas beyond terrestrial mobile coverage.

Operator trials and a much larger second generation

Geespace has conducted satellite IoT field trials with China Unicom, which in September 2025 received its own MIIT licence to provide satellite D2D services. MIIT frames the narrowband satellite IoT trials as a supplement to China's broadband satellite internet offerings and says the trials are intended to build economies of scale in the market.

The next phase of Geespace's build-out is ambitious. Its second-generation Geesatcom constellation, which will add satellite D2D and is designed to support existing 5G infrastructure and potentially 6G, is planned at up to 6,012 satellites — with no commercial launch date announced so far.