Paris, France | October 2026 — Global satellite services revenues are set to embark on a period of unprecedented transformation, forecast to grow by 44% to reach $145 billion by 2035. According to the newly released 33rd edition of Novaspace’s Satellite Connectivity and Video Market report, the upcoming decade will mark a fundamental paradigm shift for the space and telecommunications industries, with data services decisively overtaking legacy broadcast models to become the primary engine of commercial expansion.
Over the next ten years, data-driven applications are projected to surge, driving revenues within that specific category to nearly $100 billion by 2035. Industry analysts highlight that data services will drastically increase their footprint, expanding from a 26% share of total satellite services revenues up to an impressive 68%. This dramatic reallocation of market value underscores an accelerating, worldwide demand for robust, ubiquitous connectivity across diverse operational landscapes, including consumer markets, defense organizations, government agencies, and enterprise networks.
The Shift from Traditional Video to Dynamic Connectivity
While the traditional video sector has historically anchored the satellite industry’s revenue streams—serving as its largest single segment for decades—future market momentum will belong almost entirely to connectivity solutions. According to the Novaspace findings, Consumer Broadband, Military Satellite Communications (Milsatcom), and Enterprise Networks will lead the charge in market expansion. These three segments alone are forecast to inject massive financial gains into the ecosystem, adding $22.6 billion, $19.2 billion, and $17.2 billion in revenues, respectively, over the course of the next decade.
This structural evolution reflects changing consumer habits and institutional requirements. High-throughput satellite (HTS) systems and the rapid deployment of non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) constellations are collectively slashing bandwidth costs. Consequently, satellite providers—exemplified by operators like Starlink—are increasingly capable of competing directly with terrestrial broadband providers on both price and performance. This economic shift is cementing satellite broadband as a fully viable, highly competitive alternative to traditional fiber-optic and wireless connectivity across a rapidly expanding range of urban, rural, and remote markets.
At the same time, the broader satellite capacity market is expected to experience extraordinary physical and economic growth, forecast to exceed $46 billion by 2035. This represents a more than threefold increase from 2025 baseline levels. The composition of this capacity market will look drastically different by the middle of the next decade. Video Distribution, which stands as the single largest capacity segment in 2025, is projected to shrivel to account for a mere 3% of total capacity revenues by 2035. In stark contrast, Consumer Broadband and Milsatcom will dominate the landscape, together representing more than half of all capacity revenues generated globally.
Milsatcom and Defense Fuel Resilience
Within the institutional sphere, Milsatcom is rapidly emerging as a critical growth engine. This surge is directly propelled by escalating global defense spending and the accelerated adoption of satcom-enabled operational concepts across modern military forces. Defense planners are increasingly relying on space-based assets to maintain tactical superiority, secure communications, and support real-time data sharing in contested environments.
Concurrently, NGSO constellations are cementing their status as indispensable sources of resilient, low-latency capacity for government and defense users who require continuous, disruption-resistant connectivity.
"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."
This mainstream integration is redefining the operational boundaries of satellite communications. As bandwidth becomes cheaper and more abundant, satellite technology is shedding its historical image as a niche solution of last resort, evolving instead into a core pillar of global telecommunications infrastructure.
The Geostationary Rebound and Multi-Orbit Realities
This profound industry transformation is also reshaping the strategic posture and commercial role of geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) operators. Following a historical low point that saw just six commercial GEO satellite orders placed in 2024, the market has demonstrated a notable rebound. Commercial orders ticked upward to 10 in 2025, with an additional 14 orders recorded by mid-September 2026. This renewed momentum highlights a pragmatic industry pivot toward evolving multi-orbit strategies, where traditional GEO capabilities are increasingly deployed in tandem with rapidly expanding NGSO systems to create hybridized, highly flexible networks.
"This is not a return to the traditional GEO model," Buchs emphasized. "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 and Novaspace
The 33rd edition of the Satellite Connectivity and Video Market report delivers an exhaustive, granular assessment of global satellite service revenues, shifting capacity demand, evolving pricing trends, competitive dynamics, and operator strategies. Spanning video, broadband, enterprise, mobility, government, and defense markets, the research projects comprehensive industry trajectories through 2035.
This latest edition introduces several methodological enhancements, including a granular bottom-up model for Enterprise Networks Back-up terminals to provide clearer visibility into deployment trends and market demand. Furthermore, it incorporates a revised commercial Milsatcom model offering deeper analytical breakdowns by region, frequency band, and underlying infrastructure type. The study also evaluates major macroeconomic and technical developments shaping the sector, such as the maturation of NGSO constellations, emerging Q/V frequency bands, regulatory shifts, government procurement trends, and the ongoing competitive interplay between satellite and terrestrial networks.
Published by Novaspace—the leading independent consulting and market intelligence firm dedicated exclusively to the global space sector—the report leverages over 40 years of industry expertise. Headquartered with a worldwide operational footprint, Novaspace supports public and private stakeholders across the entire space value chain through data-driven advisory services, management and technology consulting, market intelligence, and executive leadership summits. Trusted by more than 1,200 clients across over 60 countries, Novaspace maintains global offices spanning Bangalore, Brussels, London, Montreal, Munich, Paris, São Paulo, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Toulouse, and Washington, D.C.
