Chinese carmaker to launch 72 satellites to assist intelligent driving

Hangzhou-based Geely unveiled its Galaxy, or Yinhe, range of electrified and fully electric cars in late February — and the vehicles will be getting assistance from orbit.

Geely established a space-focused arm in 2018 named Geespace to provide autonomous driving solutions by building a satellite network…

Until now its satellite constellation plans had been vague, stating only that the network would be designed to provide centimeter-level accuracy positioning, high-precision maps and connectivity for its vehicles.

Now the firm states that it aims to put 72 satellites into orbit by 2025 as a first phase of its constellation to provide intelligent driving functionality for the Galaxy range of cars.

The constellation will provide global positioning services without blind spots, according to Geely. To do this it will augment the signals of China’s Beidou navigation and positioning system, which is China’s answer to GPS, while also using the services of China’s Tiantong 1 mobile communications satellites in geostationary orbit.