China Launches Two-Year Trial for Satellite IoT Services

China has begun a two-year commercial trial of satellite Internet of Things (IoT) services, aiming to accelerate the country’s non-terrestrial network (NTN) ecosystem and support fast-growing sectors such as commercial aerospace, the low-altitude economy, and industrial digitalisation.

Announced by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology during the China 5G + Industrial Internet Conference in Wuhan, the programme enables approved firms to roll out satellite IoT services under regulatory supervision. The goal is to diversify national satellite communication supply, establish replicable service models, and lay the groundwork for large-scale commercial adoption.

Operating primarily through LEO satellites at 200–2,000 km, China’s satellite IoT networks offer 4G/5G-class data rates and global coverage, reaching remote regions, oceans, and airspace where terrestrial networks cannot. Multiple Chinese operators are already building out infrastructure, including China Unicom’s LEO systems, China Satcom’s GW constellation, and Geely’s commercial Geely Constellation.

The trial is expected to expand use cases across transport, logistics, agriculture, and emergency response. In the low-altitude economy, satellite links can support cross-regional UAV operations, resilient command-and-control for emergency drones, and real-time data transfer even when ground networks fail.

Officials expect the initiative to draw further investment into China’s NTN and drone ecosystems, strengthening national supply chains across satellite manufacturing, airspace management, and data services, and accelerating the convergence of “technology – scenarios – industry” across the wider digital economy.