The archive · Space, Robots, Defence · Strategic decision · 2026
Guodian Gaoke wins China's first satellite-IoT commercial trial license
Guodian Gaoke's 41-satellite Tianqi network became China's first privately licensed satellite-IoT service when MIIT approved a two-year trial in May 2026.
Guodian Gaoke (国电高科)
What the business is
Guodian Gaoke is a Beijing-based private commercial space company: it builds and operates the Tianqi low-Earth-orbit narrowband IoT constellation, which provides low-power satellite connectivity for assets and sensors beyond ground-network coverage. Its shareholder structure combines founder control, institutional investment and employee ownership.
How it started
Satellite communications in China have long been run by state-owned carriers; private companies were confined to making satellites, launching them and building downstream applications. Guodian Gaoke instead built its own network — the Tianqi constellation, now 41 satellites with global coverage — and positioned narrowband satellite IoT as a service a private operator could run.
What happened
On May 6, 2026, MIIT approved Guodian Gaoke for a two-year commercial trial of satellite IoT services — China's first such license — making it the first and only private aerospace company qualified for scaled commercial satellite-IoT operation. The license required five tests: MIIT frequency and space-station licences, national approval of the constellation project, an in-orbit serviceable system with ground control and business support, cybersecurity and data-safety capability, and the ability to serve the whole country reliably.
How it ended up
With the license, Guodian Gaoke may legally charge for service, sign long-term commercial contracts and expand industry customers, leaving demonstration projects behind. China Daily reported the company sees the approval as proof that a private firm can run the full path from frequency-orbit resources to network operations, and Guodian Gaoke says it will keep building out the Tianqi constellation.
Background
Guodian Gaoke is a Beijing private commercial space company that built its own low-Earth-orbit narrowband constellation, Tianqi, instead of staying in satellite manufacturing or launch services like most private entrants. The network now has 41 in-orbit satellites with global coverage and about five-minute average revisit, serving IoT connections for fisheries, energy, logistics, forestry, agriculture and rescue operations.
On May 6, 2026, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology granted Guodian Gaoke a two-year commercial trial license for satellite IoT services — the country's first, making it the only private aerospace firm qualified for scaled commercial operation. MIIT's criteria were deliberately strict: frequency and space-station licences, national approval of the constellation project, an in-orbit serviceable system, cybersecurity and data-safety capability, and nationwide reliable service.
The license converts demonstration work into billable business: Guodian Gaoke can now charge for service, sign long-term contracts and expand industry customers. Regulators and the company both framed the approval as the first time a private operator could run the full path from frequency-orbit resources to network operations in Chinese satellite communications.
What has to be true
- Basic telecom qualifications in China's satellite sector had sat with state-owned enterprises, leaving private firms only manufacturing, launch and downstream roles (China Daily).
- MIIT's five-part license test demanded real, secure, nationwide networks, and few companies could satisfy every condition at once (Science and Technology Daily).
- Guodian Gaoke already owned what the test demanded: 41 in-orbit satellites, five-minute revisit, and proven maritime, energy, transport and rescue uses (China Daily, Science and Technology Daily).
- The two-year trial lets the company charge and sign long-term contracts, which turns satellite IoT from pilot projects into a paid service with a commercial closed loop (36Kr, 2026-05).
What can be applied
Owning the network cleared the gate: Guodian Gaoke's constellation met MIIT's five-part test, so when a license lane opened in 2026, the first pass went to the operator already running it.
Aftermath
With MIIT's two-year commercial trial license, Guodian Gaoke says the Tianqi constellation can move from demonstrations toward paid operation and it will keep expanding buildout and industry scenarios, including low-altitude-economy, marine and digital-governance applications. China Daily and Science and Technology Daily both called the May 2026 approval a first for a private company in Chinese satellite communications. Whether the trial converts into a full license will depend on service reliability and on how fast industry customers move satellite IoT from pilot budgets to recurring ones.
Sources
- Private company gains satellite IoT permit
- 国内首个牌照落地 国电高科领跑卫星物联网业务商用许可
- First Experimental License Issued: Satellite IoT Kicks off Business Closed-Loop
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