This is what these 11 satellites launched into space by the owner of Volvo, Lotus and Smart are for

The Chinese giant Geely, which notably owns Volvo, Polestar, Lotus, and Smart, has just announced the launch of 11 satellites dedicated to the connectivity of future autonomous cars.

You probably knew Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites, now here are the satellites of the Chinese giant Geely. If those of Elon Musk have nothing to do with the automobile strictly speaking since it is, above all, about being able to have an internet connection via satellite anywhere in the world, those deployed by Geely will influence directly on our (future) cars.

The 11 satellites launched by Geely into low orbit will provide more precise navigation for autonomous vehicles. The satellites were launched on Saturday from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province, China. Geely plans to have 72 satellites in orbit by 2025 and ultimately plans a constellation of 240 satellites.

Prepare tomorrow

But concretely, what is it for? These satellites will act as high-precision positioning support for autonomous cars. This network would also serve other business functions such as connectivity to the consumer electronics sector.

The satellites are equipped with AI remote sensing functions, providing high-resolution remote sensing images from 1 to 5 meters. In other words, this will allow even more precise navigation for autonomous cars. But in fact, since we are not really there yet (we have barely reached level 3 currently), these satellites will help pave the way for an even more connected future.

China supports private companies’ satellite launches

Chinese satellite networks are currently mainly made up of devices intended for the army, but the government began allowing private investment in the country’s space industry in 2014. Since then, commercial companies, like Geely, have started to deploy certain devices to predict the future.

Currently, China has more than 400 satellites deployed in space, including commercial satellites, according to state media. In a few years, it will certainly have many more.

Geespace, Geely’s space subsidiary, joins the global league of companies with a satellite network such as Iridium, Globalstar, Orbcomm, OneWeb and SpaceX, “demonstrating the ability to independently build and manage a constellation of commercial satellites”the company claims in its press release.