Because American GPS is not good enough, Geely is launching its own satellites

Satellite navigation is now so ubiquitous in our everyday lives that few understand the term Global Position System (GPS) anymore, and for a good reason. The term GPS has since been replaced by consumer brands like Waze or Google Maps, all which rely on GPS.

In case you didn’t know, GPS is developed and owned by the US Government. It was originally intended for the US military but in the ‘80s, seeing that the service has great potential to promote international trade, the US government decided to open up the system for civilian use, but with one caveat.

For security reasons, the accuracy of civilian GPS applications are intentionally reduced to about 4 to 5 metres. The system can actually work with an accuracy of up to 30 cm, but only if it’s used by the US Air Force.

If you are a country like China, you can’t fully rely on GPS. You never know when the US government will decide to lock you out of their service.

Politics aside, the reduced accuracy of GPS services also puts a lid on how accurate driverless cars can be. As it is, your Waze/Google Maps often get confused with which side of the Y junction you are on. Clearly this won’t work if cars are to drive themselves.

To solve this, Geely is taking matters in their matters into their own hands, by launching their own satellites. No kidding. It’s the kind of audacious project that only a Chinese company will even think of embarking.

Geely has a little known aerospace subsidiary called Geespace, established in 2018. In June this year, the first two of Geespace’s series of low earth orbit (LEO) satellites will undergo final validation testing before they are launched into space from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in North West China.

The first two Geespace satellites are designed to provide users with high-precision centimeter-accurate positioning services and support the operation of OmniCloud, a new satellite-based AI cloud platform developed by GeeSpace.

When completed, the network of satellites will allow Geely to accurately pinpoint the location of its driverless cars not just on a horizontal plane, but also vertical.

Beyond accurate positioning for cars, the OmniCloud service will provide the necessary infrastructural support more intelligent public transport, ride-hailing and ride sharing services, as well as accurate sensing of a vehicle’s surroundings.

OmniCould will also support Geely’s future mobility solutions such like air taxis, drones. It also means that Geely is moving beyond car manufacturing to become a mobility technology compact. If a technology has the potential to physically move people or goods, Geely wants to have a say in it.