On Thursday, October 15, 2026, satellite communications operator Viasat, Inc. was named the recipient of the “Connected Car Innovation of the Year” award in the 7th annual AutoTech Breakthrough Awards program.
The industry recognition highlights Viasat’s deployment of standards-based Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) technology to integrate satellite-enabled voice calling, emergency alerts, and bidirectional telemetry directly into connected consumer and commercial vehicles.
Automotive NTN Integration and Industry Heritage
The award recognizes Viasat’s efforts to extend vehicle connectivity beyond terrestrial cellular networks by embedding non-terrestrial links into mainstream automotive electronics. Earlier this year, Viasat validated the capability through live field trials, including a demonstration that integrated satellite voice calling into a BMW iX3 platform during the 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) meeting in Munich, followed by expanded automotive satellite voice testing over its L-band network.
The trials demonstrated that standard in-dash infotainment consoles can initiate and maintain voice calls through orbital assets without requiring external, high-gain phased-array antennas.
Technical Architecture and Telemetry Specifications
Viasat’s automotive NTN solution integrates satellite access with existing telematics control units (TCUs) using mainstream cellular hardware:
- Constellation Layer: Employs Viasat’s geostationary L-band satellite network to deliver a ubiquitous safety and communication overlay.
- Standards Alignment: Operates on 3GPP Release 17 Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) standards, allowing automakers to use commercial, off-the-shelf chipsets, standard vehicular antennas, and eSIM profile switching.
- Compression and Telemetry: Integrates specialized voice codecs to transmit intelligible audio over narrow bandwidth channels, while enabling automated, bidirectional telemetry for fleet diagnostics, fluid level monitoring, and impact detection.
Market Outlook and Commercial Scaling
By removing the requirement for specialized vehicular satellite dishes, Viasat aims to lower integration barriers for automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). As carmakers accelerate the transition to software-defined vehicles, standards-based NTN integration provides an automated failsafe for emergency SOS communications, remote software diagnostics, and logistics fleet tracking in rural, offshore, or off-grid environments.
