Satellite battle for vehicle connectivity

A consortium utilizing an Intelsat satellite has entered into a partnership with the 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) to deliver data links to vehicles. Intelsat, in collaboration with Cubic³ in Dublin and Softbank in Japan, is developing a seamless connectivity service for all types of vehicles, leveraging satellite and cellular links based on 3GPP specifications. The successful integration between Intelsat satellites and Cubic³’s software platform has been demonstrated by the three entities.

BMW recently showcased the first satellite links to vehicles on public roads this week in conjunction with operator Viasat as part of the 5GAA initiative. While the Intelsat demonstration is primarily focused on heavy machinery, Cubic³ has set its sights on car manufacturers, as it already supplies the cellular links for software-defined vehicles, including Volkswagen through Cariad. In early 2024, Softbank made a significant investment of €473 million in Cubic³, a company that provides technology for software-defined vehicles (SDVs) across over 200 countries and other high-value Internet-of-Things (IoT) assets.

“Car manufacturers require global, high-speed, always-on connectivity to transition into software-first entities and meet the evolving demands of consumer mobility. This test illustrates how our technologies can collaborate to enable that future,” stated Nick Power, Chief Technology Officer at Cubic³.

Intelsat utilized its Flex Move Fleet service in conjunction with the Cubic³ Cloud interface for a commercial land mobile demonstration involving heavy machinery. This marks a significant advancement in the partnership between Intelsat, Cubic³, and SoftBank, according to the three companies. The objective is to establish a new, distinctive one-stop shop for the land mobile industry that can be tailored with both terrestrial cellular networks and non-terrestrial networks.

“Our Memorandum of Understanding and successful test bring us closer to our vision of truly ubiquitous connectivity,” remarked Bruno Fromont, Chief Technology Officer at Intelsat. “By combining Intelsat’s satellite expertise with Cubic³’s connectivity platform, we are developing solutions that will keep vehicles connected anywhere in the world, facilitating critical functions from broadband connectivity and diagnostics to eventually supporting autonomous driving capabilities.”

The service will initially rely on geostationary (GEO) satellites for applications such as fleet management, telematics, predictive maintenance, and software updates in regions beyond terrestrial coverage. As new low Earth orbit (LEO) constellations are launched, the system will evolve to support higher-bandwidth use cases, including high-definition map downloads and cloud-based vehicle diagnostics using digital twins.

“Non-terrestrial networks are not merely a backup option—they are an essential element of the connectivity ecosystem that will drive the vehicles of tomorrow,” emphasized Fromont. The collaboration also expands on a partnership agreement signed in 2024 between Softbank and Intelsat to establish a unified ubiquitous network utilizing 3GPP 5G and NTN standards.