Groundbreaking Memorandum of Understanding brings seamless, global connectivity closer to reality for connected cars, agriculture, and heavy machinery vehicles
Intelsat and Cubic³ have successfully completed a critical vehicle satellite connectivity test, marking a significant milestone in their joint mission to create a seamless connectivity service for all types of vehicles.
The test demonstrated successful integration between Intelsat satellites and Cubic³’s software platform, showcasing how terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks can seamlessly link to deliver always-on connectivity regardless of location.
“Our Memorandum of Understanding and successful test brings us closer to our vision of truly ubiquitous connectivity,” said Bruno Fromont, Intelsat Chief Technology Officer. “By combining Intelsat’s satellite expertise with Cubic³’s innovative connectivity platform, we’re creating solutions that will keep vehicles connected anywhere in the world, enabling critical functions from broadband connectivity, diagnostics to eventually supporting autonomous driving capabilities.”
The successful test focused on a commercial land mobile use case featuring Intelsat’s FlexMove Fleet product and Cubic³ Cloud interface, proving the viability of integrated connectivity solutions for heavy machinery customers. This demonstration represents a major step forward in the collaboration between Intelsat, Cubic³ and SoftBank Corp. The joint collaboration is expected to create a new, differentiated one-stop shop solution for the land mobile industry, offering customers the ability to create customized connectivity solutions that leverage both terrestrial cellular networks and non-terrestrial networks.
The collaboration addresses a critical gap in today’s increasingly connected world. Despite advances in autonomous mobility for connected cars, ships, drones, and other vehicles, many areas remain without ground-based mobile network coverage, requiring separate devices and accounts to connect to non-terrestrial networks. The Intelsat- Cubic³-SoftBank Corp. cooperative effort aims to eliminate this fragmentation, offering one device and one account that maintains connectivity across available networks worldwide.
Nick Power, Chief Technology Officer at Cubic³, highlighted the strategic importance of the collaboration: “Our work with Intelsat is foundational to delivering on the promise of software-defined vehicles. Car manufacturers need global, high-speed, always-on connectivity to transform into software-first entities and meet evolving consumer mobility demands. This test demonstrates how our technologies can work together to enable that future.”
The planned integrated solution will initially use geostationary (GEO) satellites for applications such as fleet management, telematics, predictive maintenance, and software updates in areas beyond terrestrial coverage. As new low Earth orbit (LEO) constellations launch, 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 just a backup option—they’re an essential component of the connectivity ecosystem that will power tomorrow’s vehicles,” Fromont said.
This collaboration also builds on the groundbreaking collaboration agreement signed in 2024 between SoftBank Corp. and Intelsat to create a single “Ubiquitous Network.” This network leverages the same standard architectures, interfaces, and processes that enable roaming between terrestrial cellular networks today, accelerating the commercial adoption of mobility solutions based on new 3GPP 5G standards for non-terrestrial networks.
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