Juniper Research advised satellite network operators to create a system of low Earth orbit (LEO) and geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) birds to ensure full coverage for IoT services, a sector it predicted would remain a key focus for non-terrestrial connectivity players.

The research company believes operators should join forces to close gaps in the coverage provided by LEO and GEO satellites. It believes such collaboration is required because the use cases for the non-terrestrial connectivity option are wide ranging, citing roving areas of operation and conditional monitoring as examples.

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Partnerships that enable the use of LEOs and GEOs for IoT networks will be essential to attract enterprise users in these sectors

Juniper Research

Juniper Research essentially called for the industry not to overlook the importance of GEO birds to the connectivity mix at a time it expects the majority of future launches to be LEO birds.

It forecast the overall number of satellites in orbit capable of delivering IoT service will grow from 10,000 this year to 24,000 by 2029, with 98 per cent of the fresh equipment expected to be LEO.

Juniper Research argued combined LEO and GEO coverage will be essential to meet growing demand for connectivity, with the construction and infrastructure, and logistics sectors identified as “two key growth opportunities”.

It noted multi-orbit set-ups can tap the low-latency and high throughput of LEO birds with the “extensive geographical coverage” of GEOs in a single service. “This will enable satellite IoT providers to cater for the wide spectrum of IoT use cases including data-intensive and LPWA connections.”