# Satellite IoT use cases: connecting remote sensors Sensors in remote places can send their readings via satellite where no mobile network reaches them. The sensor, or a gateway on site, transmits short messages to a satellite, which relays them to a ground station and on to your platform. This suits small, regular readings such as soil moisture, temperature or pressure. ## How it works Satellite IoT carries small amounts of data from places that mobile networks do not reach, such as remote fields, forests and infrastructure. ESA describes how satellite networks extend IoT connectivity into remote areas for asset monitoring, data aggregation and network backhaul, with machine-to-machine and SCADA links as examples. It names energy, power distribution, water management, infrastructure, environment and agriculture among the industries that can benefit [1]. On farms, satellite communication combined with IoT sensors supports real-time monitoring of operations and irrigation that is controlled by soil moisture data and weather forecasts [7]. There are three common set-ups: ### A gateway with a satellite link Low-power wireless sensors on a site connect to a local gateway, and the satellite link carries their data onward as network backhaul [1]. ### Direct to satellite Each sensor sends its short messages straight to a satellite [2]. In this set-up, satellites in low Earth orbit act as gateways in orbit, so no ground infrastructure is needed on site. Such networks can be built on radio standards such as LoRa and NB-IoT [4]. ### Cellular IoT over satellite Since Release 17, the 3GPP standards include NB-IoT and LTE-M (eMTC) devices that communicate via a satellite, assuming a GNSS receiver in the device [6]. Satellite positioning adds a common time. EUSPA notes that industrial IoT data often lacks synchronisation to the same time source, and that GNSS can solve this for low-power IoT devices [8]. ## Which data and satellites | Set-up | How the data travels | Suited to | | ------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- | | Gateway with satellite backhaul | Sensor to local gateway, gateway to satellite | Many sensors on one site | | Direct to satellite | Sensor to a satellite in low Earth orbit, satellite to ground station | Scattered sensors with short messages | | Cellular IoT over satellite | NB-IoT or LTE-M device to satellite | Devices built on 3GPP standards | The technology behind these links is explained on our page about [satellite communication](https://leto.space/knowledge/satellite-communication/). ## What you get - **Readings from sites without mobile coverage**, such as temperature, pressure, humidity or soil moisture [2] [3]. - **Remote monitoring of assets** in rugged and remote locations [1]. - **Automated actions** based on the readings, for example irrigation triggered by soil moisture and weather data [7]. - **Readings on a common clock**, synchronised by GNSS [8]. ## Limits **Limits** - **Delay:** Where a sensor reaches a satellite only when one passes, messages wait on board until the next ground station. Measured delays on a commercial system ranged from several tens of seconds to nearly five hours \[5]. Fewer satellites mean longer gaps between passes \[4]. Such a link suits regular readings, not control in real time. - **Short messages:** Direct-to-device IoT networks are built to receive short messages from simple sensors \[2]. Images, video or large files need a different kind of satellite link with more capacity. - **Coverage and standards vary:** Networks differ in the regions, radio standards and devices they support. Check this, and the delay each provider guarantees, before you choose sensors. ## How we help The choice of set-up follows from the requirements: how many sensors, where, how often they report, how large each message is, how quickly it must arrive and how long a battery must last. In a [strategy engagement](https://leto.space/consulting/strategy/) we work these out with you, and we then turn them into requirements that providers can answer. [More on requirements and procurement](https://leto.space/consulting/procurement/) To see who offers such services, use [Spacegraph](https://leto.space/spacegraph/), our discovery platform. Its marketplace has use-case categories for satellite IoT and machine-to-machine links and for connectivity provision. ## Related use cases - [Tracking fleets beyond mobile coverage](https://leto.space/use-cases/fleet-tracking/): The same links for vehicles and vessels on the move. - [Rapid damage mapping and emergency communication](https://leto.space/use-cases/disaster-rapid-mapping/): Satellite links when ground networks fail. - [Crop monitoring and precision farming](https://leto.space/use-cases/crop-monitoring/): Field sensors combined with satellite images. ## Frequently asked questions ### Which sensors can send data via satellite? Mainly simple, low-power sensors that send short messages. One direct-to-device network supported by ESA, for example, receives short messages from commercially available sensors such as temperature and pressure gauges in areas without ground-based telecom or power infrastructure [2]. ESA supported a demonstration in which a sensor powered by electricity from plants sent air humidity, soil moisture and temperature readings via satellites in low Earth orbit [3]. ### How quickly does a message arrive? That depends on the network. Where the sensor reaches a satellite only when one passes overhead, the satellite stores the message until it can pass it to a ground station. Measurements on a commercial system of this kind showed end-to-end delays from several tens of seconds to nearly five hours when satellite availability was unknown [5]. Ask each provider for the delay it guarantees in your region. ### How do we start a pilot for satellite IoT? Choose one remote site and the readings you need from it, and write down how often they must arrive and how quickly. Then test a small number of sensors in real conditions before you plan a roll-out. ## Sources 1. [Satcoms for the Internet of Things, European Space Agency (ESA), Connectivity and Secure Communications, 2016-05-26](https://resilience.esa.int/archives/news/satcoms-internet-things) 2. [ESA-supported Lacuna Space satellites launched to validate fifth generation gateways for direct-to-device (D2D) Internet of Things network, European Space Agency (ESA), Connectivity and Secure Communications, 2025-11-24](https://resilience.esa.int/archives/news/esa-supported-lacuna-space-satellites-launched-to-validate-fifth-generation-gateways-for-direct-to-device-d2d-internet-of-things-network) 3. [Plant-powered sensor sends signal to space, European Space Agency (ESA), 2020-01-15](https://www.esa.int/Applications/Connectivity_and_Secure_Communications/Plant-powered_sensor_sends_signal_to_space) 4. [Sparse Satellite Constellation Design for Global and Regional Direct-to-Satellite IoT Services (Capez, Henn, Fraire and Garello), IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, 2022-06-24](https://doi.org/10.1109/TAES.2022.3185970) 5. [End-to-end latency evaluation of LEO satellite IoT systems (Heine, Hofmann and Knopp), IET Conference Proceedings, 2024-03-19](https://doi.org/10.1049/icp.2024.0850) 6. [Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN), 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), accessed 2026-10-06](https://www.3gpp.org/technologies/ntn-overview) 7. [ESA Space Solutions: Space for the bioeconomy, European Space Agency (ESA), ESA Space Solutions, accessed 2026-10-06](https://business.esa.int/bioeconomy) 8. [EUSPA EO and GNSS Market Report, Issue 2, 2024, EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), 2024](https://www.euspa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/external/publications/euspa_market_report_2024.pdf) Page: