  This article presents a comprehensive study on the emerging near-space
communications (NS-COM) within the context of space-air-ground-sea integrated
network (SAGSIN). Specifically, we firstly explore the recent technical
developments of NS-COM, followed by the discussions about motivations behind
integrating NS-COM into SAGSIN. To further demonstrate the necessity of NS-COM,
a comparative analysis between the NS-COM network and other counterparts in
SAGSIN is conducted, covering aspects of deployment, coverage, channel
characteristics and unique problems of NS-COM network. Afterwards, the
technical aspects of NS-COM, including channel modeling, random access, channel
estimation, array-based beam management and joint network optimization, are
examined in detail. Furthermore, we explore the potential applications of
NS-COM, such as structural expansion in SAGSIN communication, civil aviation
communication, remote and urgent communication, weather monitoring and carbon
neutrality. Finally, some promising research avenues are identified, including
stratospheric satellite (StratoSat) -to-ground direct links for mobile
terminals, reconfigurable multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) and holographic
MIMO, federated learning in NS-COM networks, maritime communication,
electromagnetic spectrum sensing and adversarial game, integrated sensing and
communications, StratoSat-based radar detection and imaging, NS-COM assisted
enhanced global navigation system, NS-COM assisted intelligent unmanned system
and free space optical (FSO) communication. Overall, this paper highlights that
the NS-COM plays an indispensable role in the SAGSIN puzzle, providing
substantial performance and coverage enhancement to the traditional SAGSIN
architecture.
