Time for Waymo to Add Satellite Connectivity

July 4, 2026, was an eventful day for Waymo in San Francisco. Some Waymo vehicles were filmed driving over lit fireworks in the street, while dozens of others congregated in the Presidio neighborhood blocking traffic for hours, according to eyewitnesses and news reports. A loss of cell service was cited by at least one observer and some of the traffic jammed Waymos even lost power. It all strongly suggests that the time has arrived for Waymo to add satellite connectivity to its vehicles.

A panel session at the SAE Automated Transportation Symposium in San Diego this week discussed the July 4th breakdown. The failure of cell service was likely the result of the size of the gathering of people seeking a view of fireworks on the Golden Gate Bridge.

The SAE ATS panel included Mary Ellen Carroll, Executive Director of the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management; Professor Pamela Murray-Tuite of Clemson University; and Piet van Os, Head of Enterprise Resiliency for Waymo. The panel didn't resolve the question of what caused the traffic jam or how it might have been avoided, but the overwhelming takeaway was that cellular connectivity is clearly a single point of failure for autonomous vehicles of all kinds and indicates that the time has arrived for satellite connectivity across the sector.

Cellular network failures are frequent enough to be a potentially significant contributing factor to autonomous vehicle operations. For years, autonomous vehicle operators have insisted their vehicles didn't need connectivity to operate since their sophisticated sensors were specifically designed to function in a self-contained manner. Connectivity generally was deemed only necessary for rare instances when vehicles need to recover from a system failure.

Nevertheless, satellite connectivity has been contemplated for cars for more than 30 years. Satellite technology has been in use on commercial vehicles across developing global markets, with limited cell coverage, and to support operations in remote locations such as mining or agriculture and of course on the battlefield and at sea.

Next-gen 9-1-1 or eCall services have long contemplated satellite connectivity for cars to support emergency response in the event of crashes that occur in remote locations with limited cell coverage. Now a new recognition of the critical importance of connectivity for autonomous vehicles is emerging. The newly perceived dependence of autonomous vehicles on connectivity suggests that the time has arrived for a satellite connectivity upgrade.

Robotaxis are a particular focal point in the U.S., where these vehicles have grabbed headlines both for their exemplary safety performance, as recently reported by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, and notable failures. Connectivity has not been seen as necessary for day-to-day autonomous vehicle operations - even though it is implicated in both emergency response and remote operation.

In addition to those two applications, though, the interest of local authorities in monitoring and managing autonomous vehicle operations is changing the conversation. Monitoring and managing autonomous vehicle operations will require live and active connectivity.

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has called for rules to govern the operation of robotaxis, in particular, including legislation before Congress specifying the creation of standard protocols for interacting with first responders and for the ability to create operational geofences in the event of local emergency response actions. Of course, enforcing a geofence will require robust, reliable connectivity - only assured with satellite connections.

Observers of the traffic jam event on July 4th were quick to note the limited number of remote operators employed by Waymo for recovery actions when these events occur en masse. Satellite connectivity would at least guarantee the availability of connectivity to the vehicles involved and support remote management of those vehicles and, of course, emergency response.

A final note in this regard, just as next-gen 9-1-1 and next-gen eCall activities on both sides of the Atlantic are focused on setting standards for satellite integration with automatic crash notification calling, the Connected Vehicle Systems Alliance is also hard at work in this area. Additional details can be found here: https://covesa.global/project/connected-safety-group/

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Roger Lanctot is president of the Mobile Satellite Users Association and CEO and Founder of StrategiaNow Consulting. Roger draws on 30+ years’ experience in the technology industry as an analyst, journalist and consultant. Roger is a graduate of Dartmouth College. His 190,000 followers on LinkedIn reflects the influence of his insights and perspectives on automotive and transportation technology, policy, and strategy.