The size of the global commercial broadband satellite market will more than double between last year and 2033, according to a new report by Market Research Intellect. The firm’s projections says that the sector was valued at $13.5 billion in 2024 and will reach $29.8 billion by the end of the study period.
The information sheet on the report, which labels the growth as “remarkable,” said that the sector will experience a 9.8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between next year and 2033.
Drivers, according to the firm, are rapid growth in the technology, increasing deployment of low Earth orbit (LEO) constellations, and growing need for services the industry offers. Additional drivers are integration with 5G and “innovation, large-scale satellite launches, mergers, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships across technology providers, aerospace companies, telecom operators, and government agencies.”
Industries especially interested in using commercial satellites are oil and gas, mining, marine transport, and agriculture, which use satellites to maintain seamless broadband communications, enhance safety, optimize logistics and support digital operations, the report says.
The report identifies SpaceX (Starlink), OneWeb, Viasat Inc., Hughes Network Systems, Eutelsat Communications, SES S.A., Intelsat, Telesat, Gilat Satellite Networks, and EchoStar Corporation as key players. The overall category has four types of satellites. Besides LEOs, there are medium Earth orbit (MEO), geostationary orbit satellite broadband (GEOs) and hybrid multi-orbit connectivity solutions.
A lot is happening in the LEO sector. Late last month, Amazon Leo began enabling business customers to test production hardware and software.
Earlier in the month, Ookla released an analysis suggesting that LEOs had the potential to serve sparsely populated areas.
The report, entitled “Why Satellite Broadband Is Becoming a Bigger Part of U.S. Rural Connectivity Plans,” pointed out that the potential was great despite the fact that to this point the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program has largely bypassed LEOs.
On October 31, Starlink Vice President of Engineering Michael Nicolls tweeted on the social media platform X that Starlink reported median peak-hour network-wide speeds increases of more than 50%. He tweeted that “[t]ypical download speeds are over 200 Mbps, typical upload speeds are over 30 Mbps, and median global latency is around 26 ms.”
