NGSO Constellations Accelerate the Transformation of Satellite Communications
Paris, France | October 2026 – Global satellite services revenues are forecast to grow 44% to reach $145 billion by 2035, according to the 33rd edition of Novaspace’s Satellite Connectivity and Video Market report. The next decade will mark a fundamental shift in the industry as data services become the dominant growth engine, driving revenues to nearly $100 billion by 2035.
Data services are expected to increase their share of total satellite services revenues from 26% to 68% over the decade, as demand for connectivity accelerates across consumer, defense, government, and enterprise markets.
While video remains the industry’s largest revenue segment today, future growth will be driven by connectivity. Consumer Broadband, Milsatcom, and Enterprise Networks are forecast to lead market expansion, adding $22.6 billion, $19.2 billion, and $17.2 billion in revenues, respectively, over the next decade.
Milsatcom is emerging as a particularly important growth engine, fueled by rising defense spending and broader adoption of satcom-enabled operational concepts across military forces. At the same time, NGSO constellations are becoming an increasingly important source of resilient capacity for government and defense users.
“Satellite connectivity is moving firmly into the mainstream,” said Dimitri Buchs, Project Manager and Editor of the report. “The rapid expansion of NGSO capacity, declining bandwidth costs, and growing demand for resilient, always-available connectivity are fundamentally changing where and how satellite communications compete.”
The satellite capacity market is forecast to exceed $46 billion by 2035, more than tripling from 2025 levels. Video Distribution, the largest capacity segment in 2025, is expected to account for just 3% of capacity revenues by 2035. Consumer Broadband and Milsatcom, meanwhile, are projected to represent more than half of total capacity revenues.
Declining bandwidth costs, driven by HTS systems and a growing number of NGSO projects, are accelerating satellite connectivity’s expansion into mass-market applications. Providers such as Starlink are increasingly competing with terrestrial broadband on price, strengthening satellite broadband’s position as a viable alternative to fiber and wireless connectivity in a growing range of markets.
The transformation is also reshaping the role of GEO operators. Following a low of six commercial GEO orders in 2024, the market rebounded to 10 orders in 2025, with another 14 recorded by mid-September 2026. The renewed activity reflects evolving multi-orbit strategies and continued demand for GEO capabilities alongside rapidly expanding NGSO systems.
“This is not a return to the traditional GEO model,” Buchs added. “Software-defined satellites, more flexible commercial models, sovereign requirements, and growing multi-orbit strategies are redefining GEO’s role. The future of satellite communications will not be GEO or NGSO—it will increasingly be an ecosystem in which each architecture serves distinct and complementary requirements.”
About the Report
The 33rd edition of Satellite Connectivity and Video Market provides a comprehensive assessment of global satellite service revenues, capacity demand, pricing trends, competitive dynamics, and operator strategies across video, broadband, enterprise, mobility, government, and defense markets through 2035.
This edition introduces a granular bottom-up model for Enterprise Networks Back-up terminals, providing greater visibility into market demand and deployment trends. It also features a revised commercial Milsatcom model with deeper analysis by region, frequency band, and infrastructure type.
The report also provides an updated assessment of major developments shaping the satellite communications market, including the evolution of NGSO constellations, emerging Q/V frequency bands and other regulatory developments, government and defense spending trends, and the changing competitive dynamics between satellite and terrestrial connectivity.