Extend your IoT network
With big data at the heart of IoT deployment success, continuous and reliable connectivity is essential. Unfortunately, 75% of businesses struggle with connectivity issues when trialling IoT projects. For businesses that operate in remote areas where cellular connectivity is intermittent or not available, satellite connectivity can provide the necessary network reach and coverage to enable effective IoT deployments. In fact, 91% of surveyed businesses believe that satellite connectivity is key to improving the effectiveness of IoT solutions.
At Ground Control, we specialise in helping businesses build and extend their network reach with satellite-enabled communications equipment, satellite airtime via trusted satellite network operators, and remote device and data management via our platform, Cloudloop.
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Selecting the Right Satellite IoT Hardware & Airtime
These questions are aimed at helping you narrow down your options. We’re here to help, so please contact us if you’d like any support identifying the best solution for your needs.
E.g. telemetry, sensor data. A few bytes to a few kilobytes.
For low volumes of data, messaging services are highly cost effective. (If you’re not familiar with messaging services, it’s not dissimilar to how SMS works but over satellite). You should investigate Iridium SBD and Inmarsat IDP for critical applications, or cubesats.
E.g. audio, images, log files. Kilobytes to a few megabytes.
For medium volume use cases, you should consider Iridium Certus 100 (either IP or IMT) and Inmarsat BGAN M2M.
E.g. video. Megabytes to gigabytes.
If you need to transmit high volumes of IoT data, it’s worth exploring Starlink or VSAT solutions.
YES, MY DEVICE DOES
Great, edge computing, reporting by exception and condition-based logging will help reduce the amount of data you need to transmit, potentially opening up messaging services for your application.
NO, MY DEVICE DOESN’T
You could consider a communications device which has edge processing capability such as the RockREMOTE and the RockFLEET.
If it’s essential that your data is delivered in close to real-time, you need to consider the network maturity, visibility and latency. Iridium-powered devices have the lowest latency and the broadest visibility. Inmarsat BGAN M2M and ScadaSAT by TSAT also offer very low latency and very high reliability of data delivery.
If you can wait for your data (i.e. store and forward), you can optimize your delivery, and look at networks that have fewer satellites in orbit (newer LEO constellations like Swarm, for example).
If you operate national critical infrastructure, you may need something with zero reliance on public infrastructure. Have a look at the SCADASat, which gives you a private satellite network.
You either need an auto-pointing device to connect with a geostationary satellite (such as Inmarsat) or – and it’s usually a better option – an omni-directional antenna which speaks to a satellite constellation in low earth orbit (such as Iridium) which will retain constant contact with your things as they move.
Only established low earth orbit satellite constellations work well in the polar regions so you’re looking at Iridium.
Data security is a priority but not necessarily a concern. Satellite data traffic is already relatively secure meeting most military and government security standards. But you may want to consider a public static LPS and/or completely configurable firewalls, to assist your data getting from A to B.
If your application requires higher levels of security, it’s worth exploring data encryption options. You can encrypt data prior to transmission, send over satellite link and then decrypt once landed. With Ground Control you can also set up a VPN from our data centre direct to your server, creating a secure, virtual tunnel.
If you require a completely private, secure network have a look at the SCADASat. This service offers customers their own dedicated frequency on the space segment – an extremely secure solution with relatively low OPEX costs. For Inmarsat and Iridium traffic, you can consider MPLS installation or leased-lines offering a private network solution.
How we Connect Customers with Your Data
Working with Ground Control
Whether you want to self-serve from beginning to end, or tap into Ground Control’s 20-plus years’ of experience, we’ve got you covered.
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Want to browse products? Head to our IoT product pages. Not sure what you need for your project, or want to talk through your options? We are a passionate team of entrepreneurs and engineers, we’ve worked on thousands of satellite IoT projects – we’re happy to talk about your project.
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Once you’ve selected your preferred device, you’ll need airtime. We offer a credits-based pay-as-you-go system designed for proof of concept trials, as it keeps costs highly predictable and controlled. We also offer some of the best-priced airtime rates for Inmarsat and Iridium available today.
Get informed
All of our customers gain free access to Cloudloop. This is our network-agnostic, developer-friendly, subscription, device and data management platform. Integrate directly into your eco system or consume the data via a customer-friendly, data rich UI. Or do both – you choose.
Get inventive
What our customers do with our hardware genuinely inspires us. Most applications involve some sort of sensor, a processor to read data from the sensor, and Ground Control providing data transmission. The possibilities aren’t quite endless but they’re not far off!
Feature development is customer-led, so if you’re not sure if our devices can deliver what you need, talk to one of our support team and we’ll see what we can do.
Get value
Worried about the cost of your satellite IoT connectivity? We get it – satellite has a reputation for being expensive. It’s different with Ground Control, though. We design and build our own devices, so we keep a firm grip on costs without compromising on quality. We have some of the lowest cost airtime service plans available. And with Cloudloop, you can set up alerts if any of your devices are over-spending, and even automatically deactivate them.
Popular satellite-enabled IoT & M2M devices
Leveraging the Iridium satellite network, the RockBLOCK 9602 offers a low-cost solution with global coverage and low latency for real-time data transmission. And for those with larger data packet requirements, the rugged and lightweight Cobham Explorer 540 terminal supports high-speed data transmission.
Designed for remote monitoring and control of critical infrastructure SCADASat offers real-time data transmission, low power consumption, and high-level security for industrial and utility applications.
IoT / M2M Connectivity Case Studies
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February 23, 2023Empowering climate resilience through satellite-enabled precision farming
Ground Control’s RockBLOCK 9602 is providing vital connectivity for Synnefa’s precision farming tools, helping farmers in Kenya gain greater yields and reduce waste, aligned with the UN’s sustainable development goals.
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November 23, 2022Finding optimum oil and gas sites with 40Geo drifting data buoys
40Geo captures geographical information from hard-to-reach areas with drifting data buoys to aid decisions about when and where to situate oil and gas operations. Using the RockBLOCK 9602, the team can extract close to real-time data under any circumstances, unaffected by location, weather or cellular coverage.
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February 9, 2023BGAN M2M’s role in soil moisture monitoring to help combat climate change
As well as optimum vegetation and crop management through soil moisture monitoring, measuring soil moisture also helps to inform our understanding of how the natural environment responds to climate change. Here’s how the BGAN M2M service is supporting this initiative.
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July 1, 2022Satellite-Enabled Tsunami Early Warning System
As a critical communications network, there was never any question that ASC’s early warning system would need to utilise satellite connectivity, both for the coverage requirements and network reliability. Commercial terrestrial power and communications networks tend to perform poorly in a disaster – either through overuse or damage to their infrastructure.
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October 25, 2021Facilitating Renewable Energy with RWE
RWE is one of the world’s leading renewable energy companies, and operates 5 hydroelectric stations in Wales, UK. This is an area of significant rainfall, which can lead to damaging and dangerous floods. But with enough advance warning, RWE can harness this rainfall and use it to supply more renewable energy to the grid. This is how satellite connectivity made that possible.
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October 12, 2022How RockBLOCK helps deliver medical care via drone
Cancer patients on the Isle of Wight, located just off the south coast of the UK, sometimes experience issues in receiving their chemotherapy treatment. Transporting the chemotherapy via drone – using the RockBlock technology – reduces the transport time to 30 minutes.
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August 11, 2021Environmental Monitoring and Reporting
A Government Agency responsible for coastal, stormwater and catchment management has assigned Ground Control customer Obscape to assist with reporting on areas such as – monitoring and reporting on catchment management, flood risk areas, storm drains and drainage ditches with the aid of the RockBLOCK.
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August 4, 2021Preventing Illegal Deforestation
The world’s two largest rainforests, the Congo Basin and the Amazon, are under threat from illegal extraction activities. Unfortunately, authorities have long lacked the means and mechanisms to deal with these illegalities which destroy ecosystems and undermine both forest and indigenous people’s livelihoods.
Satellite IoT FAQs
Simply, IoT describes a system of interconnected devices, which are also connected to the internet. Satellite IoT, describes the systems and networks, or assets within a network, which are connected via satellite.
As for the how, satellite IoT devices, such as sensors or trackers, transmit data to a satellite in orbit, which then relays the data back down to a ground station on Earth. From there, the data is processed and sent to the cloud or end point application, where it can be accessed and analysed.
A wide range of devices including sensors, trackers, and other IoT devices can be connected with satellite connectivity. These devices can transmit data on various parameters, such as location, temperature, humidity, pressure, and more. Satellite-enabled equipment is required to establish the connection – usually through a satellite modem or transceiver, for example, the RockBLOCK 9602.
Yes. For Iridium and Inmarsat traffic, we have our own delivery network. Simply, this allows us to have full control over our certified, cutting-edge data paths while securely delivering traffic. So we’re able to support our customers with truly real-time traffic monitoring.
Yes, satellite IoT can be integrated with existing systems and infrastructure using standard protocols and APIs, such as MQTT or RESTful APIs. This allows data transmitted by satellite IoT devices to be processed and analysed alongside data from other sources.
Yes and this is becoming more commonplace. Satellite IoT can be used as a backhaul or as an alternative to terrestrial network coverage in areas where LoRaWAN gateways are not available or feasible. It can provide connectivity to remote or inaccessible areas, as well as for mobile assets that move between areas with different network coverage. See LoRaWAN data backhaul using satellite connectivity, for a real world example of how we introduced this for a customer, keeping costs low while extending their network coverage.
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