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Overview
What is satellite internet?
Satellite internet has developed for nearly 40 years since the 1980s. After an initial phase of direct competition with ground mobile communication networks and a subsequent phase as a supplement and backup to terrestrial networks, satellite internet is entering a stage of integration with ground networks. Compared with traditional terrestrial internet, satellite internet offers wide coverage, high transmission rates, and strong anti-interference capability. It can provide high-speed, stable internet access for remote areas, maritime, aviation, and rail scenarios that are hard to reach via conventional networks.
Development of satellite internet services supports the digital economy and drives information infrastructure improvements. It can provide e-commerce, online education, and healthcare services to rural areas, helping improve income and quality of life. Satellite internet can also provide communications support for aviation, aerospace, and maritime operations, enhancing operational efficiency and safety. With high bandwidth, potential for low latency, and broad coverage, satellite internet can enable innovations in broadband access services.
01 Components of Satellite Internet
Satellite internet refers to internet access that relies on satellite communication technologies, offering services that can cover the globe. By networking a sufficient number of satellites into a constellation with real-time transmission capability, satellite internet provides broadband access and related communications services to end users.
Satellite internet typically consists of three parts: the space segment, the ground segment, and the user segment. The space segment is a constellation of communication satellites that receive and relay satellite signals to provide coverage. The ground segment includes satellite telemetry, tracking and control networks and gateway stations, which connect the satellite internet to terrestrial communication networks. The user segment comprises various customer premises equipment and terminals.
By orbital altitude, satellites are classified as low, medium, and high orbit. Low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites offer lower transmission delay, lower link loss, and flexible launch options, making them well suited for satellite internet deployments.
02 Application Scenarios
Satellite internet has four primary application scenarios.
Coverage for blind spots
Satellite internet can effectively supplement terrestrial networks such as 5G to provide communications in complex geographic areas like oceans, deserts, and remote mountains, and can also provide in-flight internet coverage for civil aircraft.
Military and diplomatic communications
Satellite internet can be used for secure diplomatic communications as well as military command, battlefield situational awareness, and space-electromagnetic countermeasure applications.
Low-cost coverage for sparsely populated regions
In regions with large geographic areas and low application density, satellite-based internet can be more cost-effective and faster to deploy than ground networks composed of fiber and mobile base stations.
Emergency communications after major disasters
When earthquakes, tsunamis, fires, or other major disasters damage terrestrial networks, satellite internet can provide cross-region emergency communications.
03 Current Development Status
International situation
Under the ITU Radio Regulations, orbital slots and spectrum resources have exclusivity and time-sensitive characteristics, so satellite constellation deployment benefits from a clear "first-mover" advantage.
1. Exclusivity principle for orbital and spectrum resources
Geostationary orbit has limited slots that must be fairly coordinated among countries; other orbits (LEO and MEO) are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Estimates indicate that near-Earth orbit can accommodate on the order of 60,000 satellites. Considering major planned constellations such as Starlink, Amazon Kuiper, Samsung's space internet plans, and OneWeb, the total planned LEO satellite counts already exceed that number. The Satellite Industry Association estimates that the number of commercial spacecraft on orbit may exceed 100,000 by 2029. From both economic and strategic perspectives, developing LEO constellations is advancing rapidly.
2. Time-sensitivity of constellation deployment
ITU rules require operators to launch a defined portion of their planned constellation within specified time windows after the first satellite becomes operational: 10% within 2 years, 50% within 5 years, and full deployment within 7 years. Failure to meet these milestones may result in forfeiture of resource rights.
In recent years, many countries have announced satellite communication network plans, with rapid commercial-space development led by actors in the United States. Driven by technology companies and investor support, companies such as SpaceX and OneWeb have started deploying LEO small-satellite constellations to capture new space-based internet access capacity, triggering global interest.
According to public ITU information, roughly one third of the world population, about 2.6 billion people, remain unconnected to the internet. In the least developed countries, about two thirds of the population, around 720 million people, are offline. Faced with this large addressable market, companies such as Airbus, Amazon, Google, Facebook, and SpaceX have invested in satellite internet projects like Starlink and OneWeb. As of July 2023, Starlink had launched over 4,800 satellites.
Development in China
Since 2017, multiple satellite constellation plans have been launched in China, including the "Hongyan" constellation, the "Hongyun" engineering project, and the "Tianqi" constellation. China established the China Satellite Network Group in April 2021 to integrate satellite internet systems and related programs and to coordinate construction and operation; system-level technical demonstrations and testing are ongoing. A private company has also launched several broadband satellites with single-satellite capacities averaging 40 Gbit/s and is conducting system verification testing. Projections suggest that about 57,000 LEO satellites could be deployed globally by 2029, with the United States accounting for over 80% of that number and China ranking second in LEO satellite count.
In recent years, Chinese authorities have issued multiple policies supporting satellite internet development. In April 2020, the National Development and Reform Commission classified new infrastructure into information infrastructure, integrated infrastructure, and innovation infrastructure; information infrastructure includes communication networks, new technology infrastructure, and computing power infrastructure. Satellite internet, together with 5G, the Internet of Things, and industrial internet, is considered representative of communication network infrastructure.
Although China started satellite internet development later than some other countries, after inclusion in national infrastructure initiatives in 2020, deployment activity accelerated. Several constellation programs aim to launch many LEO communication satellites to build satellite internet services, with network investment expected to be significant. Satellite networking costs account for a portion of the industry value chain, and estimates project substantial industry scale for the Chinese market.
With reduced costs and improved speed and stability, satellite internet technologies are being applied across power, oil and gas, mining, transportation, and agriculture and forestry sectors.
04 Development Trends
Satellite communications are central to the space economy, and satellite internet development is expected to follow these trends.
National strategic elevation of satellite internet
Due to growing strategic importance, market potential, and scarcity of orbital and spectrum resources, many countries are elevating satellite internet construction to national strategic priorities and releasing corresponding plans.
Technology advances driving cost reductions
Satellite manufacturing is moving from custom designs to standardized, modular approaches, reducing production costs. Launch costs have been mitigated by innovations in reusable rocket technology. Satellite communication bandwidth has increased from hundreds of Mbit/s to Gbit/s, significantly improving network capacity.
Increasing competition for frequency and orbital resources
Current international allocation mechanisms rely on first-come, first-served and equitable planning principles. With limited spectrum and orbital slots and plans involving thousands of satellites, competition for space-spectrum resources is intensifying as countries and companies build satellite internet ecosystems.
Integration with terrestrial networks
Satellite internet offers broad coverage and strong resilience to natural disasters, making it a focus area. However, compared with terrestrial networks like 5G, satellite internet can have higher latency and higher service costs, so it is unlikely to replace terrestrial networks in the short term. Technical trends indicate that integration between satellite and terrestrial networks will be an important direction for future mobile communications.
