While China's Robotaxi industry remains stuck in the cycle of “closed testing → small-scale operation”, a recent move disclosed by CaoCao Inc. has opened up a new industry breakthrough.
Recently, according to a report by 21st Century Business Herald, CaoCao Inc. will jointly launch the "CaoCao Zhixing Satellite" with Geespace, an aerospace company under Geely Holding Group. This marks a further expansion of its smart mobility ecosystem into the aerospace sphere and is poised to become a critical turning point for the industry’s gradual shift from technological validation towards scaled profitability.
From an industry perspective, the core bottleneck for Robotaxi has shifted from “whether it can operate” to “whether it can operate safely and cost-effectively”. Industry estimates suggest that the per-kilometer operating cost for Robotaxis in China is significantly higher than that for traditional ride-hailing services, with a substantial portion attributed to positioning and connectivity assurance. Moreover, in dense urban canyons and during adverse weather conditions such as heavy rain, fog, or snow, traditional GPS positioning errors often reach several meters. This directly leads to delays in vehicle collision-avoidance decisions, posing a critical bottleneck for scaling operations. CaoCao Inc.’s move into satellite technology precisely targets these two major industry pain points.
This confidence stems from the vertically integrated synergies within the Geely Holding Group’s industrial ecosystem. As early as July 22, CaoCao Inc. and Geespace announced a deep strategic partnership, committing to apply world-leading satellite communication and high-precision positioning technologies to the management and operation of autonomous vehicle fleets.
As a commercial aerospace company under Geely Holding Group, Geespace is no newcomer: it is China’s first privately-owned aerospace firm to achieve a complete commercial closed loop, with full-chain capabilities covering chips, modules, terminals, and algorithm platforms.
As of September 2024, the “Geely Constellation” operates with 30 satellites in orbit. Combined with over 5,000 high-precision ground-based positioning stations deployed across China, it forms a dual “satellite + ground” positioning network capable of centimeter-level accuracy with a signal interruption rate below 0.01%. More importantly, this “aerospace + automotive” ecosystem collaboration breaks down the traditional supply chain’s “data silos”. CaoCao Inc.’s Robotaxi platform, “CaoCao Zhixing”, has mandated the standard integration of satellite technology equipment, eliminating reliance on third-party providers. This move alone is expected to significantly reduce positioning service costs compared to the industry average, addressing the challenge of high operating costs for Robotaxi.
At the operational level, the value of the “CaoCao Zhixing Satellite” has already been demonstrated in pilot programs. Following the satellite’s launch in February this year, pilot vehicles in Suzhou and Hangzhou were equipped with pre-installed satellite positioning components. Company data from the pilot phase shows that during morning and evening peak hours on elevated roads, the lane-level tracking accuracy reached 99.8%, showing a marked improvement compared to the test vehicles from the same batch without satellite modules. As Gong Xin, CEO of CaoCao Inc., stated, by integrating low-earth orbit satellite services with ground systems, the company is building an innovative multi-layered safety redundancy system. Even if ground-based stations fail, satellites can still support remote emergency braking and dispatch command transmission. This provides critical technical support for removing “onboard safety” drivers from Robotaxis, directly addressing the core demand for “safe operation”.
Notably, this strategic move aligns perfectly with CaoCao Inc.’s role as the “core platform” for Geely’s Robotaxi initiatives. Unlike platforms such as Baidu Apollo and DiDi Autonomous Driving, which rely on external automakers for vehicles, CaoCao Inc. can directly leverage Geely’s automotive manufacturing resources. The new generation of Robotaxi, deployed in April 2025, uses Geely’s in-house redundant architecture. Its pre-installed autonomous driving components and satellite modules achieve “hardware-level integration”, which is expected to significantly lower per-unit manufacturing costs compared to models relying on externally sourced components. This full-chain synergy across “satellite aerospace – automotive manufacturing – mobility platform” gives CaoCao Inc. dual advantages in both cost and technology as it scales. According to Geely’s latest roadmap, after the mass production of customized L4 vehicles in 2026, the per-kilometer operating cost of its Robotaxis is expected to approach that of traditional ride-hailing—potentially the critical threshold for achieving commercial profitability.
From an industry impact perspective, the launch of the “CaoCao Zhixing Satellite” could also reshape the competitive landscape. While previous Robotaxi competitions focused on algorithm precision and test mileage, CaoCao Inc.’s “satellite+” cross-domain integration elevates the competition to the “technology ecosystem” level. The demonstration effect is already emerging. Industry sources indicate that several second-tier mobility platforms are in contact with private aerospace companies for similar collaborations. As the orders received by upstream suppliers of chips and positioning modules have increased, synergistic effects across the industry supply chain will gradually materialize.
At the policy level, this move is well-aligned with national strategic priorities. The 2024 Action Plan for Advancing the High-Quality and Safe Development of Commercial Aerospace explicitly calls for “propelling the integrated application of satellite technology and intelligent connected vehicles”. Meanwhile, the Measures for the Administration of Road Testing and Demonstration Application of ICVs lists “high-precision positioning reliability” as a key assessment metric for scaled operations.
CaoCao Inc.’s satellite strategy not only aligns with policy direction but also lays the groundwork for applying for broader “driverless” testing and operation permits in the future.
While the industry is still debating “when Robotaxi will truly arrive”, CaoCao Inc. is already constructing a commercialization “moat” through aerospace technology. With the launch of the “CaoCao Zhixing Satellite”, the Robotaxi industry may bid farewell to the phase of “burning cash for scale” and officially enter a new era of “technology-driven profitability”. The full-chain collaborative strength of the Geely ecosystem is precisely the core foundation of CaoCao Inc.’s confidence in this industrial transformation.