The unprecedented development of non-terrestrial networks (NTN) utilizes the low-altitude airspace for commercial and social flying activities. The integration of NTN and terrestrial networks leads to the emergence of low-altitude economy (LAE). A series of LAE application scenarios are enabled by the sensing, communication, and transportation functionalities of the aircrafts. The prerequisite technologies supporting LAE are introduced in this paper, including the network coverage and aircrafts detection. The LAE functionalities assisted by aircrafts with respect to sensing and communication are then summarized, including the terrestrial and non-terrestrial targets sensing, ubiquitous coverage, relaying, and traffic offloading. Finally, several future directions are identified, including aircrafts collaboration, energy efficiency, and artificial intelligence enabled LAE.

翻译：非地面网络（NTN）的迅猛发展正将低空空域用于商业和社会飞行活动。NTN与地面网络的融合催生了低空经济（LAE）的兴起。通过飞行器的感知、通信和运输功能，一系列低空经济应用场景得以实现。本文介绍了支撑低空经济的基础技术，包括网络覆盖与飞行器探测。随后总结了飞行器在感知与通信方面所辅助的低空经济功能，涵盖地面与非地面目标感知、泛在覆盖、中继传输及流量卸载。最后，本文指出了若干未来发展方向，包括飞行器协同、能效优化以及人工智能赋能的低空经济。