Global Satellite IoT Connectivity: What the Future Holds

Everyone interacts with the Internet of Things (IoT) — sometimes without knowing. These sensor-based devices are interwoven through city infrastructure and smart homes. 

Tech experts have spent decades perfecting its potential, with plenty of room to improve. However, connections with global satellites are improving, making them more capable than ever. What role will this play as it evolves?

The Role of Global Satellite IoT 

Satellites are constantly orbiting the Earth, and they can connect to networks on the ground, like IoT. These communications comprise global satellite IoT.

Satellites are one of the most reliable telecommunication formats, as their low latency and high bandwidth can extend to geographies with few connectivity options. 

Embedding IoT in satellites brings the benefits of sensors to even more places worldwide. It can reach under the ocean and into the most remote locations. The bridge between them means devices can collect and transmit more comprehensive and accurate information faster.

IoT requires a fair amount of energy to operate but combining it with satellite technology makes it a low-power option. Its minimal demand makes it widely scalable for corporate and governmental uses, including natural disaster detection or improving soil for agriculture. 

The implications of joining these assets are huge for expanding sustainability objectives, as is the case with urbanization. These two seemingly contradictory spaces overlap frequently, such as with low-carbon smart cities. 

The more data experts have access to, the more informed decisions they can make about being as eco-friendly and optimized as possible.

Evolution of Satellite IoT Connectivity

Communication satellites have been in low-earth orbit (LEO) for decades. It was the foundation of data services and the expansion of cellular. Sending and receiving information has never been faster and easier. Now, speed and latency records are exceeded every year.

The rise of IoT leveraged the internet instead of older communications technologies to perform similar functions. It was faster and began to intrigue governmental entities and corporations. 

This led to numerous incentives and investments in its growth until it became a focal point of Industry 4.0 — a new industrial revolution motivated by the cloud, sensors and artificial intelligence to help humans achieve more.

However, the digital divide permeates the world. Cyber literacy is inconsistent, and internet access is sparse globally. Innovators sought to combine the strengths of IoT with satellites to lower the costs of buildout. 

Suddenly, every tech giant contributed to advanced satellites and sensors until they became the most efficient and cost-effective in history. 

The Future of Evolving Technologies

How does the marriage of satellites and IoT manifest now, and how could it look in the coming years?

Enhanced Connectivity

The biggest names in electronics are sending copious satellites into LEO, primarily focusing on hard-to-reach areas with minimal transmission technologies.

Advancing satellite IoT efforts seems like the most logical step following AT&T's discontinuation of narrowband IoT in 2025. It promised smart cities at low costs but couldn’t maintain high transmission speeds for how much people use data in the modern age.

More Robust Data Analytics

Researchers will benefit from accessing information from all corners of the planet. This could help in numerous sectors, including environmental science and health care. IoT will give more insights into how sectors around the world operate and how successful their methods are.

Deeper Interoperability

The priority of satellite IoT equipment is access. Therefore, the investors and minds behind these technologies must consider how they can meld with as many existing devices as possible. 

The future of digitalization requires people to make certain technologies obsolete, but this intermediary phase will force engineers, data scientists and more to make everything compatible to make the most of it now.

Profound Sustainability

As companies send more devices into LEO and create tech to work with it on Earth, electronic waste and space debris are top concerns. By 2030, there could be 25.44 billion individual devices as part of Earth’s IoT ecosystem. The desire to connect humanity must not come at the cost of the planet. 

Clarified Regulations

It could be faster to send a satellite into the atmosphere, connect to IoT and start leveraging its data before legislation crystallizes in any country. It could take years before federal and local governments understand the implications of expanding satellite IoT, such as data privacy risks and geopolitical tensions.

However, expansion will motivate action in these agencies to create regulatory frameworks as fast as possible.

Reduced Costs

Investing in satellite IoT equipment is expensive upfront, but manufacturing and operational costs are decreasing year by year. As with the proliferation of most products and services, its popularity will inevitably lead to cost accessibility. An IoT sensor cost $1.30 in 2004 and dropped to $0.38 in 2020.

Data as Far as the Eye Can See

There are still many parts of the world where workplaces function without an ounce of wireless data, despite how many advantages it brings. 

Eventually, global satellite IoT development will shorten the gaps between those who can connect and those who can’t. It can change education, the climate, and industry by making people more informed global citizens.