Satellite IoT is entering a new era, shifting from proprietary systems to a global, standards-based ecosystem that mirrors cellular networks. But engineering satellite and terrestrial systems to work together while keeping communications secure and reliable remains a challenge.
Read our top four takeaways from our conversation with Omar Qaise, founder and CEO at OQ Technology, or listen to the full episode.
Takeaway 1: Satellite IoT is moving from bespoke to standard, but engineering challenges persist.
With the advent of 3GPP NTN, the satellite IoT industry is moving quickly from ultra-low-power, custom devices toward solutions built on widely adopted cellular standards, allowing operators to scale without building ecosystems from scratch, Qaise said.
“The biggest shift in the NTN industry really right now is no longer just about space problems. It’s actually a network integration problem,” Qaise said. “How can we blend terrestrial together with satellite coverage and still have applications that work with this blend?”
The satellite component is no longer a “last resort” but a native component of the network to ensure resilience and scalability from the jump, he said.
But the integration of terrestrial and satellite network components comes with its own set of engineering challenges, Qaise said. For example, cellular towers on Earth are mostly stationary, while a satellite in LEO moves at approximately seven kilometers per second, he noted.
“It’s like a cell tower moving with the speed of a bullet,” he said, adding that moving satellites pose challenging with network functions such as routing, authentication and routing.
Satellite links also tend to be unpredictable due to Doppler shifts and intermittent visibility, which can impact signal strength, Qaise said. Additionally, long delays can disrupt cellular timers when transmitting a signal over a long distance to the satellite, he said.
Takeaway 2: Hybrid networks streamline the connectivity experience.
Despite the engineering conundrum of hybrid network integration, maintaining continuous IoT data in remote or mobile environments necessitates a satellite component due to cellular coverage being inconsistent or unavailable in certain areas, Qaise explained. Hybrid networks can solve this problem by automatically defaulting to the satellite component of the network as needed, he said.
“The goal is really to have one device, one service, and one integration across the globe, and then the network decides the best path for the data to go through,” Qaise said. “It’s really not two products, but it’s one experience, combining both terrestrial and satellite together.”
By integrating connectivity, core network and application layers, operators can ensure that pipelines, moving vehicles and sensors remain connected without additional hardware or manual intervention, he said.
Takeaway 3: Mass-market modules unlock global scale.
Scaling satellite IoT now hinges on standard hardware, with off-the-shelf cellular modules capable of transmitting narrowband IoT data directly to LEO satellites, Qaise noted.
“You don’t need any more bespoke satellite device to get satellite reach ... you tap into a huge supply chain, proven security models, familiar SIM provisioning and an existing IoT ecosystem,” he said.
Using mass-market modules reduces costs, speeds up certification and enables deployment at scale without the complexity of custom satellite devices, he said.
Takeaway 4: Coverage isn’t enough – security and sovereignty are critical.
Expanding coverage is only part of the equation, said Qaise.
As non-terrestrial networks are used as a fallback when terrestrial infrastructure is degraded or unavailable, secure 5G NTN messaging can serve as a national resilience layer for emergency communications, which makes end-to-end authentication, traffic prioritization and sovereign control of infrastructure essential for security, he said.
“Countries want to assure that the identity, the keys, the routing policies and even the infrastructure is sovereign and that infrastructure is fully end-to-end owned by that country,” Qaise said.
In that context, resilience is not defined by connectivity alone, said Qaise. “It’s really not just about the coverage. It’s the continuity of the coverage and the governance and trust of that,” he said.
For more, listen to the full episode.
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