Satellite Connectivity Transforms the Automotive Opportunity

Cellular connectivity is now a core component of the software-defined vehicle. CCS Insight estimates that 95% of new cars are sold with embedded cellular connectivity to support critical vehicle functions like safety systems, mapping, diagnostics and remote services, as well as consumer-facing services such as infotainment and voice calling.

As vehicles become increasingly software-driven, the requirement for connectivity intensifies. Many advanced features assume persistent, reliable network access. However, cellular networks alone are unlikely to meet this requirement. Global 4G population coverage exceeds 97%, but land-mass coverage remains far more limited. As a result, significant gaps persist in road networks, particularly in rural and remote areas. In Canada, for example, about 15,000 km of roads — approximately 13% — lack 4G coverage, and in Brazil only about half of highways are covered. As reliance on connected and software-based vehicle functions increases, these coverage gaps become harder to ignore, highlighting the need for complementary connectivity solutions beyond terrestrial cellular networks.

Historically, satellite connectivity has been poorly suited to automotive scenarios owing to high costs, integration complexity and the lack of globally-standardized approaches required to achieve scale. Vehicle manufacturers are highly cost-sensitive and depend on globally interoperable technologies to support high-volume deployments. Until recently, this combination of factors made satellite connectivity impractical for mass-market vehicles.

This is now changing. Satellite connectivity enabled as part of the next iteration of 5G standards, called non-terrestrial networks (5G-NTN), is emerging as a viable complement to terrestrial cellular networks. It’s designed to address coverage gaps that cellular alone can’t reach, while integrating into existing mobile architectures to enable global interoperability and scale.

The first iteration of these standards, known as IoT-NTN or NB-NTN, uses existing satellite infrastructure, including geostationary orbit (GEO) satellites, alongside globally-harmonized L- and S-band mobile satellite spectrum. This enables global coverage for narrowband, low-bit-rate services. In an automotive context, these capabilities are well aligned with applications where coverage, reliability and reach are more important than throughput, such as emergency messaging, local hazard and traffic information, fleet tracking, basic telematics and selected remote app services, such as “find my car” or pre-heating the windscreen. Although NB-NTN represents the first phase of satellite integration in automotive connectivity, many of the initial usage scenarios are likely to be sufficiently served by narrowband capabilities in the medium-to-long term. Several of these applications rely on older cellular technologies, such as 2G and 3G for eCall in Europe, despite these standards having been developed more than 25 years ago and now being phased out.

One of the suppliers leading development in this area is Skylo. The company operates a virtualized satellite network that enables connectivity using GEO satellite capacity and spectrum from established partners including Viasat, EchoStar, Terrestar Solutions and Ligado. Aligned with 3GPP standards, Skylo’s network supports multiple device types through its certification programme, including a variety of automotive modules and connectivity platforms, such as Qualcomm Snapdragon Auto and Harman Connect.

To support deployment at the scale of the automotive sector, Skylo has also partnered with Cubic, a global provider of connectivity solutions for software-defined vehicles. Cubic supports manufacturers including Volkswagen Group, Audi, Bentley, Skoda, Iveco and Honda, enabling them to manage connectivity over regions, networks and access technologies. Skylo’s standardized and globally-scalable approach allows the two companies to extend existing automotive connectivity coverage to vehicle customers, with flexible hardware options.

With the constellations, network, hardware and software platforms in place, it won’t be long before we see the first commercial deployments using satellite connectivity. Trials are already commencing, and Cubic expects the first commercial deployments to be ready in 2027.

From a commercial perspective, Cubic believes the addition of satellite connectivity will create tangible value for its customers. By expanding the geographic footprint for manufacturers to offer digital and connected services, it can increase the addressable market for in-vehicle subscriptions. Recent surveys conducted by the 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) show that buyers are willing to pay a premium for digital subscriptions that include satellite connectivity, bringing opportunities for increasing average revenue per user. Additional value is likely to come from commercial and fleet segments, where scenarios such as asset tracking, remote diagnostics and service continuity are often business critical. This includes its use in additional transportation vehicles, including heavy goods vehicles, taxis and buses.

The next generation of 5G-NTN capabilities will further expand the range of automotive applications, enabling more data-intensive scenarios such as over-the-air updates, streaming services and higher-quality voice. Hardware that supports wideband NTN (NR-NTN), combined with low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellite constellations to deliver higher data rates and lower latency, is expected to become available in 2027 to 2028. Automotive services based on these technologies are anticipated from 2029.

As automotive development cycles for 2029 onwards begin to take shape, manufacturers will increasingly need to account for satellite connectivity at the hardware design stage. Rather than optimizing for a single implementation, there is a growing case for designing telematics control units with built-in optionality — supporting both GEO and LEO satellite constellations, NB-NTN and NR-NTN, and globally-licensed mobile satellite spectrum.

This approach increases redundancy by enabling multiple satellite options where terrestrial connectivity is unavailable. It improves flexibility, allowing manufacturers to adapt service offerings, pricing models or technology choices over time. It also improves scalability, by maximizing the number of countries and regions that can be supported through a standardized spectrum framework. Reflecting this direction, Skylo continues to develop its roadmap to support a multi-orbit, standards-based NTN ecosystem, aligned with long-term automotive deployment requirements. For vehicle manufacturers, architectural decisions made this decade will largely determine how easily satellite connectivity can be scaled, adapted or monetized over the vehicle lifecycle.

Delivering hybrid cellular and satellite connectivity on a large scale requires close coordination in the automotive and connectivity ecosystems, spanning hardware suppliers, satellite and cellular service providers, and connectivity platform suppliers. Industry bodies such as the 5GAA play a critical role in aligning the community and defining consolidated automotive requirements for inclusion in future 3GPP standards. As these efforts progress, satellite connectivity is seen less as an experimental add-on. Instead, it becomes a foundational layer in next-generation connected-vehicle architectures, extending coverage, improving service resilience and reshaping how automotive manufacturers think about connectivity as a platform capability.