The Satellite IoT Communications Market - 6th Edition

This study investigates the satellite IoT connectivity market. The research covers a total of 44 satellite IoT operators including both the incumbent operators and all the new LEO smallsat constellations. The global satellite IoT communications market is growing at a good steady pace. The global satellite IoT subscriber base grew to surpass 7.0 million in 2025. The number of satellite IoT subscribers will increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 43.1 percent to reach 42.0 million units in 2030. Get up to date with the latest information and trends about the satellite IoT business opportunity.

Highlights from the report:

• 360-degree overview of the satellite IoT communications ecosystem.
• Reviews of the strategies of 44 satellite IoT operators.
• Perspectives on the impact of the new LEO satellite constellations.
• Summary of the latest industry trends and developments.
• Reviews of operator market shares and competitive dynamics.
• Extensive global and regional market forecasts lasting until 2030.

Executive Summary

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 study covers a total of 44 satellite IoT operators. Only 17 of these offer commercial satellite IoT connectivity services today.

The global satellite IoT communications market is growing at a good steady pace. The global satellite IoT subscriber base grew to surpass 7.0 million in 2025. The number of satellite IoT subscribers will increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 43.1 percent to reach 42.0 million units in 2030. Satellite IoT connectivity revenues are at the same time forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 38.9 percent from € 390.6 million in 2025 to approximately € 2.02 billion in 2030. Meanwhile the monthly ARPU is expected to drop to € 4.00 by 2030. Iridium, ORBCOMM, Viasat and Globalstar are the largest satellite network operators in IoT. Iridium grew its subscriber base by 6 percent in the last year and reached the number one spot serving 2.1 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 and others. At the end of Q4-2025, the company had 950,000 million satellite IoT subscribers on its own and Viasat’s networks. Viasat does not currently report IoT subscribers. Globalstar reached 0.54 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 AST SpaceMobile, Geespace, Hubble Network, Kineis, Ligado Networks, Lynk, Myriota, Elveo Mobile, OQ Technology, Plan-S, Sateliot, Skylo and Starlink. Many of these are based on low-earth orbit smallsat 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, Elveo Mobile, Sateliot, Ligado Networks, Skylo, Open Cosmos, Iridium, Terrestar Solutions, Geespace and Starlink (3GPP 4G/5G); EchoStar Mobile, Fossa Systems, Lacuna Space, Innova Space and Plan-S (LoRa); and Hubble Network (Bluetooth).