Your Toaster Will Need a Satellite Soon
- By CDOTrends editors
- August 19, 2024
A new study from Juniper Research predicts that the number of satellites in orbit to support IoT connectivity will grow by 150% over the next five years, increasing from 10,000 satellites today to 24,000.
Juniper’s research report, Global Satellite IoT Services Market 2024-30, says growth will be driven by increased demand for connectivity from IoT network users “in nomadic locations.”
The report forecasts that 98% of the satellites launched over the next five years will be in low-Earth orbit (LEO) due to the low cost of launches.
Regarding the monetary size of the satellite market, Juniper says the total transaction value in 2024 is USD2.9 billion, rising to USD11 billion by 2030 for market growth of 210%.
The study urges substantial investment in multi-orbit satellite solutions to meet the demand for satellite connectivity for IoT. This model combines the low latency and high throughput of LEOs and the extensive geographical coverage of geostationary earth orbit (GEO) to deliver a single service.
The research found that some IoT applications, such as nomadic operational areas and conditional monitoring, require LEOs and GEOs for complete service provision.
The study urges satellite network operators to form strategic partnerships to fill the coverage gaps between LEO and GEO capabilities. It identified construction, infrastructure and logistics as two key growth opportunities.
Kinéis, a leading IoT satellite operator, announced the imminent launch of its satellite constellation in June, the first in Europe dedicated to IoT applications.
As a spin-off of the French Space Agency (CNES) and CLS (CNES commercial entity), Kinéis leverages 40 years of experience in data collection and is fully supported by the French Government, having raised EUR100 million in funding.
Initially relying on the Argos constellation with nine satellites providing global coverage, Kinéis was already operational before launching its 25 nano-satellite constellation.
Deutsche Telekom is also moving to embrace satellite IoT connectivity. In August, it became the first European telco to join the Bridge Alliance, a group of 36 mobile operators in the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, and now Europe.
Image credit: iStockphoto/Stefan Pinter
