In the world of enterprise connectivity, satellite’s role has always been very specific – and expensive. Unless you were on an oil rig miles out at sea or a military operation in a remote location, the investment was hard to justify. Today, we see a very different picture. Nearly half of enterprises now consider satellite essential to their technology plans, from manufacturers connecting industrial equipment to logisticscompanies deploying it across vehicle fleets.
Satellite is now faster, more scalable, and more attainable – driving more organizations to evaluate where it could fit into their broader connectivity strategy. For those tasked with controlling telecom costs, managing vendors, and maintaining visibility across increasingly complex environments, it creates a laundry list of questions and considerations to ensure decisions are strategic and fiscally responsible.
In this guide, we’ll explore the rapid rise of satellite connectivity, what that means for cost control and financial management, and five key plays to proactively manage spend – maximizing cost and efficiency savings.
How did satellite go from micro-market to mainstream? Organizations – namely Starlink, a subsidiary of SpaceX – revolutionized how satellite can be deployed with the introduction of low earth orbit, or LEO satellites. These satellites deliver lower latency, faster speeds, and more reliable performance compared to older satellites that sit tens of thousands of miles above Earth. Other major players in this space include Amazon Leo, Eutelsat, and Telesat.
Accessibility increased, demand grew, and competition intensified. Back in 2022, Deloitte predicted that there would be over 5,000 broadband satellites in LEO by the end of 2023. That number ended up being nearly 7,500. Satellite has taken an unprecedented leap – far greater than experts imagined – and it’s only the beginning.
Tens of thousands more LEO satellites are expected over the next several years as providers race to expand coverage and enterprise services. Overall, the enterprise satellite market is projected to grow from $5.6B in 2024 to a whopping $23.6B by 2029.
The biggest (and most obvious) reason is that LEO satellites deliver consistent network access anywhere without being limited by location – and usually at a lower cost than older satellites.
Companies that once had no choice but to rely on very expensive (and often limited) satellite connectivity can now get better performance and reliability at a more competitive rate due to lower launch costs. They can also operationalize satellite at scale, no longer reserving it for critical systems but connecting more workers, devices, systems, and applications. Gartner predicts that these types of companies will increase spending on LEO satellite communication services by 40% in 2026 alone.
With any increase in technology spending comes the need for greater scrutiny: whether the spend is justified, whether usage aligns to costs, whether services are optimized, and whether complexity is creating waste.
Satellite connectivity may now be more practical and accessible, but its costs are becoming more complex to manage. Let’s explore the dynamics at play.
If you’re familiar with technology expense management then you’re already ahead of the game. Managing satellite expenses and services is much like how you do other technology environments to minimize costs, optimize spend, and improve efficiency. But as a rapidly growing and evolving space, there are some distinctions to be aware of.
Don’t get tripped up by these challenges. Here’s what you need to monitor and proactively manage to maintain the upper hand.
Understanding what you’re using and what it’s costing is how you answer the hard questions, get ahead of issues before they show up on invoices, and justify spend with confidence.
Keep these tips in mind.
Satellite may be mainstream, but a lot of enterprises still manage it separately from other telecom and network environments. Disconnected systems managed by different teams (often split across different countries or time zones) create friction that limits visibility into what’s being used, where costs are coming from, and where optimization opportunities exist. Tie satellite services into your broader telecom expense management (TEM) strategy for even stronger visibility, allocation, and cost control.
Early satellite pricing was expensive, but simple. Now it’s variable and dynamic. You need to consider quality-of-service tiers, mobility versus fixed site pricing, regional restrictions, fair-use thresholds, priority traffic surcharges (as mentioned above), and more.
Get ahead by taking these steps.
Satellite environments tend to become fragmented across carriers, portals, contracts, and invoices. Centralized visibility makes it easier to understand total spend, compare costs, and spot issues earlier.
Don’t underestimate the role of bill pay in technology expense management. In one study, only 26% of executives said they were confident that their current bill pay approach could keep up with growing cost management complexity, visibility demands, and the need for tighter financial control. The rest expect to evaluate new solutions in the next 12-24 months.
Manual reconciliation becomes extremely difficult as satellite environments grow. Many enterprises rely on a telecom expense management (TEM) platform for this reason as it’s capable of automating invoice processing, inventory updates, usage tracking, and reporting to reduce operational burden while improving cost visibility and accuracy.
Cost allocation and chargeback strategies are essential for understanding where satellite spend is going, who’s using services, and which departments, locations, or projects should ultimately own the expense.
Here’s what to keep in mind.
You need to track usage at the asset level.
Satellite costs should tie back to specific devices, vehicles, sites, departments, or teams whenever possible. Otherwise, how can you see when one team is barely using the connectivity they’re paying for or that another team is on track to consume far more bandwidth – and cost – than expected?
Manual tracking isn’t built for this type of work.
Does your IT or finance team have the time every month to download invoices, export usage reports, comb through spreadsheets and email queues, and manually estimate how much satellite usage should be allocated to each department, team, or project? This isn’t the kind of work they should be expected to do, especially with AI and automation readily available.
A TEM platform like Tangoe One leverages advanced AI to crunch mountains of usage, billing, and inventory data continuously at scale, with granular reporting and visibility into where spend is going. There’s also an AI assistant that lets you interact with your data the same way you would with tools like Copilot, Claude, or Gemini – surfacing actionable financial and operational insights in seconds.
But here’s the catch – you need to centralize that data first.
Chargebacks only work if the underlying data is accurate, which is difficult (if not, impossible) to do when data lives in different places. No one system is designed to provide a complete, continuously updated picture of who’s using what and where. This centralized visibility is crucial for accurate allocations and strong financial accountability across the business, and it’s only possible with a purpose-built TEM platform.
Ready to turn satellite into a strategic advantage?
Here’s your launch pad.
Satellite environments tend to become fragmented across carriers, portals, contracts, and invoices. Centralized visibility makes it easier to understand total spend, compare costs, and spot issues earlier.
How is satellite realistically used across your business? Confirm whether pricing models, service tiers, and connectivity strategies align.
No team of humans can keep up with the constant movement of assets, shifting usage patterns, and evolving costs at the scale AI and automation can.
