Semantic Communication for the Internet of Space: New Architecture, Challenges, and Future Vision

Abstract

The expansion of sixth-generation (6G) wireless networks into space introduces technical challenges that conventional bit-oriented communication approaches cannot efficiently address, including intermittent connectivity, severe latency, limited bandwidth, and constrained onboard resources. To overcome these limitations, semantic communication has emerged as a transformative paradigm, shifting the communication focus from transmitting raw data to delivering context-aware, missionrelevant information. In this article, we propose a semantic communication architecture explicitly tailored for the 6G Internet of Space (IoS), integrating multi-modal semantic processing, AIdriven semantic encoding and decoding, and adaptive transmission mechanisms optimized for space environments. The effectiveness of our proposed framework is demonstrated through a representative deep-space scenario involving semantic-based monitoring of Mars dust storms. Finally, we outline open research challenges and discuss future directions toward realizing practical semantic-enabled IoS systems.