China’s MIIT clears Geespace for two-year LEO satellite IoT trial

Details: John Tanner; Category: Satellite Networks; 21 August 2026; 610 views

Chinese LEO satellite operator Geespace announced on Thursday it has received official approval from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) to conduct a two-year commercial trial of satellite IoT services.

In a LinkedIn post, Geespace said it will provide global LEO satellite IoT connectivity via its constellation during the trial period, delivering wide coverage, low-power and highly reliable connectivity for applications such as intelligent connected vehicles (ICVs), construction machinery, maritime and fisheries, energy and water infrastructure, logistics, and low-altitude mobility.

Geespace – a subsidiary of Chinese carmaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group established in 2018 – also said it has completed commercial validation in areas including ICVs and robotaxis, while expanding applications in maritime, energy, logistics and emergency communications.

The company said it currently has 64 LEO satellites covering the globe. That’s a little shy of the 72 satellites it had initially planned to launch by the end of last year for the first phase of the constellation.

The second phase will add 264 satellites to support direct-to-device (D2D) satellite communications. Geespace ultimately plans to build a network of over 5,600 satellites offering global high-speed broadband services.

Geespace said it has established commercial partnerships across Asia, Africa and Latin America, including with Advanced Telecommunications Solutions and Services (ATSS) in Saudi Arabia, Systems & Services Limited (SSL) in Bangladesh, SATLAS in Kazakhstan, Orbith in Argentina, Pakistan’s Paksat International, Malaysia’s Altel Group, and Oman-based satellite services provider Azyan Telecom.

Geespace is one of several Chinese firms looking to play in the LEO satellite space dominated by Starlink, Eutelsat OneWeb and Amazon Leo, along with Guodian Gaoke and Shanghai SpaceSail Technologies.

Geespace said it’s the only privately owned Chinese company to get a licence from MIIT for satellite IoT commercial trials.

Geespace also said it has completed ground-based technical trials of 3GPP IoT NTN technology, and will continue to accelerate the development of its second-generation LEO constellation in preparation for the arrival of 6G.