Tech Desk — August 25, 2026 — The satellite IoT market is entering a growth phase that will reshape how connected devices operate beyond the reach of terrestrial networks. New research from Omdia projects satellite IoT connections will surge from 7.7 million in 2023 to 197.6 million by 2035, a compound annual growth rate of 31 percent that signals a fundamental shift in the connectivity picture.
The forecast, published August 24, marks the first time a major analyst firm has quantified the satellite IoT opportunity at this scale. For context, the projected 197.6 million connections nearly equals the total number of cellular IoT connections globally in 2021. The trajectory suggests satellite connectivity is moving from a niche capability for remote asset tracking to a mainstream option for enterprises building hybrid network strategies.
LEO constellations power the acceleration
Low Earth Orbit satellites are the primary engine behind the forecast. Omdia projects LEO satellite IoT connections will grow at an 88.6 percent CAGR over the forecast period, compared to just 7.3 percent for Geostationary Earth Orbit systems. The difference reflects the rapid deployment of LEO constellations from operators including Starlink, OneWeb, and emerging regional players, combined with falling launch costs and increasing bandwidth per satellite.
"While the technical advances in the satellite market are substantial, their timing is equally important," said John Canali, Principal Analyst for IoT at Omdia. "As IoT matures, enterprises increasingly need global coverage without connectivity gaps, as well as greater resilience when terrestrial connectivity is unavailable. These requirements will become more pressing as IoT devices support a growing range of data-intensive models and automated applications."
The LEO advantage comes from latency and economics. A Starlink satellite at 550 kilometers altitude delivers round-trip latency around 25-50 milliseconds, comparable to terrestrial cellular. GEO satellites at 35,786 kilometers introduce 500-600 milliseconds of latency, limiting their usefulness for real-time applications. Lower orbits also mean smaller, cheaper user terminals — a critical factor for mass-market IoT adoption.
Automotive emerges as the dominant vertical
The most striking finding in Omdia's forecast is the automotive sector's projected dominance. Connected vehicles are expected to grow from just 11,000 satellite IoT connections in 2023 to over 112 million by 2035 — a 115 percent CAGR that would make automotive the largest single source of satellite IoT connections by the end of the period, accounting for more than half of all connections.
Major manufacturers including Geely, Tesla, BMW, and Stellantis are actively testing and deploying satellite connectivity solutions. The goal is a "network of networks" where vehicles switch dynamically between terrestrial cellular, Wi-Fi, and non-terrestrial networks without driver intervention. This capability matters for over-the-air updates, real-time navigation, emergency calling, and eventually autonomous driving functions that require uninterrupted connectivity across coverage boundaries.
The automotive push has cascading effects on the supply chain. Module makers such as Qualcomm, MediaTek, and u-blox are integrating satellite modems into their automotive-grade chipsets. Antenna suppliers are developing low-profile, multi-band designs that fit within vehicle rooflines. Certification bodies are adapting type approval processes for dual-mode terrestrial-satellite devices. All of this infrastructure development benefits other verticals by pushing down component costs and expanding the ecosystem of compatible hardware.
Hybrid connectivity becomes the enterprise standard
Omdia's forecast reinforces a trend that has been building for several years: satellite IoT is increasingly positioned alongside terrestrial technologies rather than against them. Cellular IoT, LoRaWAN, and other LPWAN technologies remain well suited to dense or semi-dense deployments. Satellite becomes particularly relevant when assets move across coverage boundaries or operate where building terrestrial infrastructure is commercially difficult.
This complementary role has practical implications for system integrators and enterprise IT teams. A rising number of satellite IoT connections does not imply that enterprises will abandon terrestrial networks. It suggests that hybrid connectivity strategies are becoming more important, especially for asset tracking, logistics, energy, utilities, agriculture, and industrial monitoring scenarios where location and network availability vary over time.
For device makers, the shift means satellite support can no longer be an afterthought. If satellite connectivity is to support large numbers of IoT endpoints, OEMs will need to think about antenna design, power budgets, enclosure constraints, and service activation much earlier in the product development cycle. Satellite support is not simply a connectivity add-on; it influences industrial design, certification planning, and lifecycle management.
Connectivity providers face a packaging challenge
The forecast also highlights a gap in how satellite IoT is sold and managed today. Many customers do not want to manage satellite connectivity as a completely separate operational domain with its own billing, device management, and support contracts. They want coverage extension, roaming logic, and billing models that can coexist with cellular, LPWAN, or private network deployments.
This has prompted a wave of partnership announcements over the past 18 months. Traditional mobile network operators are adding satellite roaming to their IoT connectivity platforms. Satellite operators are building APIs that let enterprises manage satellite-connected devices through their existing IoT platforms. Module vendors are embedding satellite firmware that handles network selection automatically. The industry is converging on a model where the end customer sees a single SIM, a single management console, and a single bill — even when traffic traverses multiple network types.
The road to 2035
Omdia's 2035 forecast does not, by itself, define which technologies or providers will capture the opportunity. But it does signal that satellite IoT is becoming large enough to shape product planning, connectivity procurement, and integration strategies across the IoT ecosystem. For an industry long focused on connecting everything everywhere, the forecast is a reminder that "everywhere" still requires a different technical and commercial model once terrestrial coverage runs out.
The next milestones to watch: the first volume automotive deployments with integrated satellite modems, expected in model year 2027 vehicles; the maturation of 3GPP Release 17 NTN (Non-Terrestrial Networks) specifications into commercial chipsets; and the expansion of LEO constellations into direct-to-device capabilities that eliminate the need for dedicated satellite terminals entirely.
Sources: Omdia — Satellite IoT connections to reach 197.6 million by 2035, IoT Business News — Satellite IoT Connections Forecast to Reach Nearly 200 Million by 2035
Internal links: Semiconductors, Cloud & Edge Computing
Keywords: satellite IoT, LEO, Omdia, connected vehicles, automotive IoT, non-terrestrial networks, hybrid connectivity, John Canali, satellite communications, IoT market forecast