The Future of Satellite Communication Can Be Expected!

1. The satellite communication industry is increasingly prosperous

With the reduction of satellite launch costs, entities at different levels have flooded into the satellite communications market, and it is no longer just time, orbit, and cost that determine the health of the satellite communications industry chain. Upstream companies that occupy a larger voice in the industry chain will gradually become customer service-oriented in the future of satellite applications. Operators of communication satellites will also continue to improve their service customization capabilities and establish a more flexible pricing mechanism.

The future development direction of the satellite communication industry will largely depend on the requirements of key application scenarios. Statistics from SIA show that by the end of 2020, a total of 3,371 satellites will be orbiting the earth, an increase of 37% over 2019. The global satellite industry revenue will reach US$371 billion, up 1.4% year-on-year, and satellite service revenue will account for 32%.

The development of satellite communication technology and the richness of application scenarios complement each other. With the improvement of satellite communication networks, more demands will be derived. Similar to the development law of terrestrial networks, the prices of various satellite broadband services will continue to decline in the future, which will drive the procurement demand for satellite mobile communication terminals and the development of chip, module and terminal manufacturers.

From the development experience of the global satellite communication industry, ground equipment and satellite operation services are the core part of the satellite industry revenue. In the future, companies such as China Satcom and China Telecom with satellite operation rights and earth station resources will still face competition in the market. There is a relatively large advantage.

In the future, with the liberalization of the market, more private enterprises will join the satellite communication and application fields. In addition to supplementing the traditional satellite communication in terms of satellite infrastructure, active exploration will also be carried out in other fields.

At present, the main downstream applications of satellite communication include live TV, radio broadcasting, satellite broadband, satellite fixed communication, satellite mobile communication, etc. Among them, the scale of live TV business accounts for more than 70%. It will show a downward trend, and the income in other fields will gradually enrich, gradually resolve the problem of the simplification of satellite communication service income, and promote the structural transformation of income.

2. Accelerating the integration of satellite communication networks

In 2022, the operators of communication satellites will continue to explore the construction of a new generation of space information infrastructure that integrates space and earth with the integration of high, medium and low orbit communication satellites and constellation systems and ground communication networks in accordance with the development requirements of new infrastructure. All entities will follow the trend of 5G integration, deep integration of communication, digital transformation, cloud-network integration, business platformization and other trends, and accelerate the research and development of core technologies in satellite, frequency, station, network and terminal related fields that meet the needs of high-speed, dynamic, and fast. 

The three telecom operators will also take the initiative to embrace satellite communication networks, take advantage of the advantages of large networks and platforms, and build an integrated network of heaven and earth on the basis of removing congestion and bridging blind spots.

Software-defined networking (SD-WAN) has played a huge advantage in the optimization of terrestrial networks, and it can also help satellite operators to enhance the long-distance communication capabilities of satellite networks. The software reduces the satellite's demand for various hardware, which can further reduce the weight of the satellite and improve the utilization rate of the satellite. With the development and application of phased array and other technologies, ground receiving equipment has decreased in size and weight, and is more suitable for residential, vehicle and personal use.