Global Satellite IoT Subscriber Base to Reach 26.7 Million by 2028
October 14, 2024 | Berg InsightEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
The global satellite IoT communications market is growing at a good steady pace according to a new research report from specialist IoT analyst firm Berg Insight. The global satellite IoT subscriber base grew to surpass 5.1 million in 2023. The number of satellite IoT subscribers will increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 39.2 percent to reach 26.7 million units in 2028. Only about 10 percent of the Earth’s surface has access to terrestrial connectivity services which leaves a massive opportunity for satellite IoT communications. Satellite connectivity provides a complement to terrestrial cellular and non-cellular networks in remote locations, especially useful for applications in agriculture, asset tracking, maritime and intermodal transportation, oil and gas industry exploration, utilities, construction and governments. Both incumbent satellite operators and more than two dozen new initiatives are now betting on the IoT connectivity market. This new study covers a total of 40 satellite IoT operators.
“Iridium, Orbcomm, Viasat (Inmarsat) and Globalstar are the largest satellite IoT network operators today”, says Johan Fagerberg, Principal Analyst at Berg Insight. Iridium grew its subscriber base by 17 percent in the last year and reached the number one spot serving 1.8 million subscribers. Originally a dedicated satellite operator, Orbcomm has transitioned into an end-to-end solution provider, delivering services on its own satellite network as well as being a reseller partner of Viasat (Inmarsat) and others. At the end of Q4-2023, the company had 715,000 million satellite IoT subscribers on its own and Viasat’s networks. Globalstar reached 0.48 million subscribers. Other players with connections in the tens of thousands include for instance Myriota in Australia, Kineis in France and Thuraya in the UAE.
In addition to the incumbent satellite operators a number of new initiatives have appeared on the market recently. Examples of some high-profile projects are Astrocast, AST SpaceMobile, CASC/CASIC, E-Space, Hubble Network, Kepler Communications, Kineis, Ligado Networks, Lynk, Myriota, Omnispace, Skylo, Swarm Technologies (SpaceX) and Totum. Many of these are based on low-earth orbit nano satellite concepts. While some rely on proprietary satellite connectivity technologies to support IoT devices, several are starting to leverage terrestrial wireless IoT connectivity technologies. Examples include OQ Technology, AST SpaceMobile, Omnispace, Sateliot, Galaxy Space, Ligado Networks, Lynk, Skylo and Starlink (3GPP 4G/5G); EchoStar Mobile, Fossa Systems, Lacuna Space, Innova Space and Eutelsat (LoRaWAN); and Hubble Network (Bluetooth). Collaborations between satellite operators and mobile operators that explore new hybrid satellite-terrestrial connectivity opportunities will become common in the next years. “Skylo has been the most active NTN provider lately for hybrid cellular/satellite offerings working with Deutsche Telekom, BICS, emnify, floLIVE, Monogoto, O2 Telefónica (Germany), Particle, Soracom, Transatel and 1GLOBAL (Truphone). Additional satellite IoT operators partnering with mobile operators and MVNOs include Sateliot, Starlink, OQ Technology, Omnispace, Lynk, Intelsat, Viasat and AST SpaceMobile”, concludes Mr Fagerberg.
Suggested Items
Boeing Secures $2.8B Contract to Enhance U.S. Strategic SATCOM Capabilities
07/04/2025 | BoeingBoeing has been awarded a $2.8B contract for the Evolved Strategic Satellite Communications (ESS) program, the space-based component of the U.S. nuclear command, control, and communications (NC3) architecture.
EUMETSAT: Europe’s First Geostationary Sounder Satellite is Launched
07/02/2025 | BUSINESS WIREEurope has taken a major step forward in strengthening its resilience to extreme weather events with the successful launch of the Meteosat Third Generation Sounder 1 (MTG-S1) satellite.
Rocket Lab to Launch Electron Mission for European Space Agency’s Next-Generation Navigation System
06/26/2025 | BUSINESS WIRERocket Lab Corporation, a global leader in launch services and space systems, today announced it has been selected to launch a dedicated Electron mission for the European Space Agency (ESA) for the first time, to deploy the first pair of satellites for a future navigation constellation for Europe, LEO-PNT.
TrustPoint Launches Third Satellite and Successfully Establishes First Contact
06/26/2025 | BUSINESS WIRETrustPoint, a pioneer in next-generation space-based positioning and navigation solutions, is proud to announce the successful launch and first contact of its third free-flying satellite, Time Flies, aboard the latest rideshare launch out of Vandenberg Space Force Base on Monday.
SFL Missions Announces Launch and Successful Deployment of Two GHGSat Greenhouse Gas Monitoring Microsatellites
06/26/2025 | BUSINESS WIRESFL Missions Inc. announced the successful launch and deployment of the GHGSat-C12 and GHGSat-C13 (also known as Pierre and Valmay, respectively) greenhouse gas monitoring microsatellites developed for GHGSat of Montreal. SFL Missions Inc. developed the satellites on a low-cost, high-performance 15-kg NEMO bus, the same used to build the first nine GHGSat spacecraft.