Every story tagged Satellite Communications, curated for CIOs and IT leaders — ranked by source credibility, engagement, and freshness.
16 stories · open in the command center
China and Russia are jointly developing space weapons and counter-space strategies specifically targeting Starlink, representing a structured military partnership that threatens critical satellite infrastructure increasingly relied upon by the U.S. military and allies for communications, navigation, and battlefield operations. As adversaries advance their own mega-constellation capabilities and classify commercial satellite systems as legitimate military targets, the line between civilian and military space infrastructure is blurring, creating strategic vulnerabilities for IT and defense organizations dependent on satellite connectivity. IT leaders must recognize that commercial satellite networks now constitute critical national security infrastructure, requiring enhanced resilience planning, redundancy strategies, and coordination with government agencies to protect essential operations.
Rocket Lab's $8 billion acquisition of Iridium Communications creates a vertically integrated space company combining launch capabilities with an operational satellite constellation, valuable L-band spectrum, and 2.55 million existing customers—positioning it to compete with SpaceX and Blue Origin in the high-margin space applications market. This strategic deal significantly de-risks Rocket Lab's entry into satellite services and provides immediate revenue streams, though success depends on the delayed Neutron rocket achieving operational status to enable constellation expansion. For IT leaders, this signals the growing convergence of space infrastructure with terrestrial connectivity and IoT services, creating both opportunities for new communication alternatives and competitive pressures in the satellite communications sector.
Rocket Lab's planned $8B acquisition of Iridium creates a vertically integrated space infrastructure competitor combining launch services with a global satellite communications network of 66 satellites serving 2.5 million subscribers, potentially disrupting enterprise connectivity and IoT solutions that currently rely on terrestrial or alternative satellite networks. For IT leaders, this consolidation signals emerging competition in mission-critical communications infrastructure and may impact service pricing, availability, and redundancy strategies for organizations dependent on satellite-based connectivity. The combined entity's ability to control both launch and constellation operations could accelerate deployment of next-generation space-based services, requiring enterprises to evaluate their connectivity and disaster recovery strategies.
Apple has captured over 71% of the satellite-connected smartphone market in 2025, with satellite connectivity projected to reach 46% of global smartphone shipments by 2030—signaling a fundamental shift in mobile device capabilities and network redundancy that will reshape enterprise connectivity strategies. This trend has significant implications for IT organizations, as satellite-enabled devices will enable new use cases for remote workforce connectivity, business continuity, and emergency communications while requiring updates to mobile device management, security, and network infrastructure policies. CIOs must begin planning for a hybrid terrestrial-satellite network environment and evaluate how this technology impacts their mobile workforce, supply chain operations, and disaster recovery capabilities.
Apple dominates the emerging satellite smartphone market with 71.6% market share in 2025, but broader adoption remains constrained by limited use cases beyond emergency SOS and messaging. The market is bifurcating between proprietary systems (Apple, Huawei, Google) and standardized 3GPP NTN approaches (Samsung, MediaTek), with industry analysts projecting satellite connectivity will reach 46% of global smartphone shipments by 2030, requiring expanded capabilities, mid-tier device integration, and increased telecom operator partnerships beyond North America. For IT organizations, this signals a significant shift in mobile infrastructure and network architecture that will require strategic planning around satellite connectivity support, device management policies, and potential security implications of multi-network dependence.
Starlink demonstrated explosive growth from 2023-2025, expanding subscribers nearly 4x (2.3M to 8.9M) and revenue nearly 3x ($3.9B to $11.4B), signaling a viable enterprise-grade connectivity alternative for distributed IT infrastructure and remote operations. The 18% ARPU decline reflects competitive pricing pressure and market saturation risks that IT leaders should monitor when evaluating satellite-based connectivity for business continuity and edge computing strategies. This represents a strategic inflection point where space-based connectivity transitions from emerging technology to mainstream infrastructure option, requiring CIOs to reassess their WAN and resilience architectures.
Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket has been grounded by the FAA after a second-stage engine failure caused a customer satellite to be placed in an unusable orbit, resulting in complete mission loss. This incident highlights critical reliability risks for organizations considering commercial launch services, particularly as enterprises increasingly depend on satellite infrastructure for connectivity, IoT, and data services. The grounding follows Blue Origin's 2022 year-long suspension and continues a pattern of regulatory interventions across commercial space providers, underscoring the immaturity of the commercial launch market.
The satellite-to-cellular connectivity market is intensifying as Blue Origin's reusable rocket capability could accelerate deployment of space-based cell networks from Amazon, AST SpaceMobile, and SpaceX Starlink. AST SpaceMobile's approach uses fewer but more powerful satellites with massive phased-array antennas to deliver 4G/5G broadband directly to standard mobile devices at 120+ Mbps. This infrastructure shift could eliminate cellular dead zones and fundamentally change enterprise mobile connectivity requirements, network redundancy planning, and IoT deployment strategies for distributed operations.
Apple is expanding iPhone satellite capabilities with four major enhancements including 5G connectivity, Apple Maps support, photo messaging, and a third-party API for developers. The satellite API represents a significant platform shift that could enable new enterprise use cases for field operations, emergency services, and remote workforce connectivity, though implementation may initially be limited to emergency-related features. These developments, now backed by Amazon's acquisition of Apple's satellite partner GlobalStar, signal satellite connectivity becoming a mainstream enterprise communication channel rather than emergency-only fallback.
Amazon's $11.57 billion acquisition of Globalstar provides immediate access to pre-approved global spectrum rights and direct-to-device satellite capabilities, accelerating its Project Leo initiative to compete with Starlink's dominance in satellite connectivity. The deal positions Amazon to offer satellite-based services across its logistics network and consumer devices, while its partnership with Apple creates strategic opportunities in the growing emergency communication and always-connected device market. This consolidation signals that satellite connectivity is becoming critical infrastructure for AI deployment and IoT services, requiring IT leaders to consider satellite as a viable backup and primary connectivity option.
Amazon's acquisition of Globalstar and partnership with Apple to provide satellite connectivity through Amazon's Leo constellation represents a significant shift in infrastructure partnerships that could reshape enterprise mobility and disaster recovery capabilities for organizations relying on Apple ecosystems. Additionally, Apple's continued struggles with App Store security—including the bypass of fake cryptocurrency and financial apps—highlight critical vulnerabilities in application vetting processes that IT leaders must account for when managing device security policies and user access controls. These developments signal that technology leaders need to reassess their satellite connectivity strategies, supply chain dependencies, and mobile security frameworks to adapt to this changing competitive and threat landscape.
Amazon's $11.6B acquisition of Globalstar positions it as Apple's primary satellite service provider for iPhones and Apple Watches, marking a significant shift in the direct-to-device satellite market and Apple's rejection of SpaceX's Starlink partnership. The deal, expected to close in 2027 with commercial D2D services launching in 2028, combines Globalstar's spectrum licenses with Amazon's Leo satellite network to compete against Starlink's dominant 10,000+ satellite constellation. For IT organizations, this creates a new enterprise connectivity option backed by Amazon's infrastructure, though deployment timelines and feature parity with Starlink remain uncertain.
Amazon's $11.57B acquisition of Globalstar accelerates its direct competition with Starlink in the satellite connectivity market, gaining critical spectrum licenses, orbital infrastructure, and established enterprise customers including Apple, Delta, and AT&T. This strategic move positions Amazon Leo to offer integrated satellite-terrestrial services for enterprise IoT, mobile connectivity, and cloud edge computing, though Amazon currently lags significantly behind Starlink's 10,000+ satellite constellation with only 200 deployed. The deal signals that satellite connectivity is becoming essential infrastructure for hybrid cloud architectures and global service delivery, requiring IT leaders to evaluate how orbital networks will complement or disrupt traditional connectivity strategies.
Amazon is acquiring Globalstar's satellite network for $11.57 billion and partnering with Apple to continue providing satellite connectivity services to iPhones and Apple Watches, positioning itself to compete directly with SpaceX's Starlink in the satellite-to-device market. This consolidation creates a major new player combining Amazon's Project Kuiper infrastructure with Apple's consumer device ecosystem, potentially disrupting traditional cellular carrier relationships and mobile connectivity strategies. The deal represents a significant shift in the satellite communications landscape, with enterprise implications for backup connectivity, IoT deployments, and remote workforce enablement as satellite-based services become increasingly integrated into mainstream mobile devices.
Amazon's $11.57B acquisition of satellite provider Globalstar marks a significant shift in the satellite connectivity market, with Apple transitioning its iPhone and Apple Watch emergency and messaging services from Globalstar to Amazon's Leo network. This consolidation creates a major competitor to Starlink and promises accelerated direct-to-device satellite services at scale, potentially transforming enterprise connectivity options for remote operations and IoT deployments. The deal demonstrates how hyperscale cloud providers are vertically integrating satellite infrastructure to offer end-to-end connectivity solutions beyond traditional terrestrial networks.
Amazon's Leo satellite internet service is now targeted for mid-2026 commercial launch, positioning itself as a lower-cost, faster alternative to Starlink with native AWS integration for enterprise data operations. However, the company faces significant execution risks, having deployed only 241 of its 3,236 approved satellites and requiring FCC approval for deployment timeline extensions, while SpaceX maintains a competitive advantage with 10,000+ active Starlink satellites. For IT organizations, this represents an emerging multi-cloud connectivity option that could reduce WAN costs and enable hybrid data strategies, but requires careful evaluation of vendor maturity and service reliability before adoption.