Despite years of bullish forecasts and expectations built up over the last few years, satellite Internet of Things (IoT) in 2026 is still far from the transition from promise to commercial maturity. The industry is no longer dominated by marketing-induced visions of fleets of inexpensive CubeSats connecting billions of sensors across the planet. Instead, the reality is a steadily growing market for critical communications served by a handful of incumbent players. Facts speak for themselves. Around 80% of today’s market remains in the hands of incumbent mobile satellite operators such as Viasat/Inmarsat, Iridium, ORBCOMM, and Globalstar.

by Aishwary Pachauri

For decades, government space budgets were viewed mainly through civil ambition: lunar and Mars missions, Earth observation, human spaceflight, science, and national prestige. Agencies such as NASA, ESA, JAXA, ISRO, Roscosmos, and CNSA shaped this public narrative. That story still matters, but it no longer captures the full picture. Between 2021 and 2026, military space organizations became some of the fastest-growing budget centers in the global space economy.

by Bernardo Schneiderman

In 2026, the Internet of Things (IoT) and satellite markets are converging into a phase of intelligent value creation, characterized by smarter automation and the mainstreaming of Direct-to-Device (D2D) connectivity. The satellite IoT market specifically is projected to reach approximately US$ 2.26 billion in 2026 as it transitions from a niche service to a core enterprise resilience strategy. During 2026 the satellite and IoT landscape is reaching a strategic "tipping point" where connectivity is no longer a technical hurdle but a standard foundation for operational intelligence. The market for satellite IoT alone is projected to reach approximately 32.5 million subscribers by 2029.

More than 6,500 Earth observation (EO) satellites are expected to launch by 2035, generating US$ 155.9 billion in manufacturing revenues as governments expand sovereign intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities, according to the latest edition of Novaspace’s Earth Observation Satellite Systems report.

The global earth observation small satellite market is on track to expand from roughly US$ 2.14 billion in 2026 to $6.90 billion by 2034—a 15.76% compound annual growth rate according to Polaris Market Research. Buried inside that headline number is the more consequential trend: commercial end users are projected to grow at 17.3% annually, outpacing every other buyer segment, including the government programs that built this industry. For corporate strategists, investors, and procurement leaders, that inflection point—not the aggregate market size—is the number worth building a strategy around.

Novaspace’s latest In-Orbit Services Markets report projects that emerging in-orbit services will generate approximately US$3 billion in cumulative service revenues over the next decade, highlighting the early development of a more flexible, resilient, and sustainable space economy.

Rethink TV, from Rethink Technology Research, has published its latest forecast: the "Global OTT Compendium: SVoD, AVoD, & FAST Market Forecast 2026-2031." The new business models being used make these definitions quite blurred, we must stress, with a few services (Crunchyroll and JioHotstar) proving categorizational headscratchers. 

by Bernardo Schneiderman

This article will be addressing the market for major small satellite manufacturers and the key trends in this challenging environment where constellations are getting implemented for global and regional players both for communications, internet and earth observation among other verticals.

The maritime satellite communications market is entering a new phase of growth as next-generation satellite networks transform connectivity at sea. According to Novaspace’s newly released Maritime Satellite Communications, 14th Edition, global maritime satellite service revenues are projected to grow from US$ 2.28 billion in 2025 to US$ 3.79 billion by 2035, driven by accelerating adoption of NGSO (Non-Geostationary Satellite Orbit) services and increasing demand for always-on connectivity across commercial and recreational fleets.

by Jason Bates

Low Earth Orbit (LEO) broadband is reshaping the market—but it’s just one of several major shifts underway, alongside software-defined satellites, 5G non-terrestrial networks (NTN), optical communications, and direct-to-device (D2D). As these trends move from concept to deployment at varying speeds, which will have the greatest impact on teleport operators managing shared, multi-orbit infrastructure?