Lynk Global, Inc. (Lynk) has won the first-prize award for the Mercedes-Benz car2space Challenge at INNOspace Masters. Lynk won over applicants from around the globe for their innovative technology connecting cars to the company’s growing constellation of satellite cell towers in space. Lynk received this award in Berlin, Germany, at the INNOspace Masters Conference and Awards Ceremony 2022.
Hosted annually by the German Space Agency, the INNOspace Masters includes the prestigious Mercedes-Benz car2space Challenge. For this award, Mercedes-Benz AG was looking for space-related innovation ideas or concepts connected to the car of the future. Applicants represent a cross-section of innovation enthusiasts, including Individuals, startups, academia, and subject matter experts.
Today, only 10% of the world’s surface is covered by terrestrial mobile connectivity. This means that 90% of the planet is in “coverage black spots,” otherwise known as “0G.” As many cars, trucks, and even some tractors, have mobile chips built in when manufactured, driving through areas with 0G black spots is a real problem. Beyond cars, trucks, and tractors, over three billion people with a mobile phone experience extended periods of disconnectivity per year. Another billion people per year refuse to buy their first phone because they don’t have mobile coverage where they live and work. 0G is a problem for at least four billion people.
This award highlights that Lynk’s technology can provide satellite-direct-to-phone service to those four billion people and hundreds of millions of cars, trucks, tractors, and other connected vehicles. Mobile vehicles can use their existing built-in chipsets to reach Lynk’s network providing drivers with critical emergency services wherever they are located on Earth. As the Lynk system is backwards compatible, the legacy chipsets that exist in millions of cars will still work even after the sunset of legacy cellular technologies. Further, universal connectivity will become a critical enabling feature of smart cars.
Lynk proved its patented technology through a series of demonstration missions, receiving regulatory approval for testing in 15 countries. Lynk Tower 1, Lynk’s first commercial-ready satellite, launched in April of 2022. Additional satellites will launch later this year, enabling Lynk to provide a constellation of commercial “cell-towers-in-space” service. To date, Lynk has 12 contracts with Mobile Network Operators worldwide.
“We are honored to win this award from one of the world’s premier car companies. Mercedes Benz wants the best for its customers, and we prize their acknowledgment of the value of Lynk’s system to keep every Mercedes connected wherever it goes,” said Charles Miller, CEO, and co-founder of Lynk. “Future car customers will be safer in a car that is always connected — especially during an emergency. Universal connectivity is going to become a key safety feature for all cars.”
In 2022, Lynk will provide the world’s first commercial satellite direct-to-mobile phone service, enabling affordable, reliable mobile phone connectivity to everyone, everywhere across the globe. Founded in 2017 by veteran space and telecoms leaders, the Lynk team invented, patented, and proved that a satellite could serve as a “cell tower in space” and connect directly to a standard mobile phone on Earth – a technological feat verified by independent third parties. Today, Lynk is the only company in the world to have successfully sent text messages to and from space via unmodified mobile devices. By partnering with Lynk via a simple roaming agreement, a mobile network operator opens the door to untapped markets, gives subscribers peace of mind with ubiquitous connectivity, and provides a pathway to economic prosperity for billions of the world’s citizens. For more information, visit www.lynk.world
