Nordic Semiconductor, a low-power wireless technology company, has achieved a new milestone in the Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) IoT space by successfully transmitting NB-IoT data directly to and from OQ Technology's Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite using its nRF9151 cellular IoT module. This achievement is significant in that it demonstrates the feasibility of achieving global IoT coverage that enables connectivity anywhere in the world, transcending the limitations of existing terrestrial network-based IoT.

Nordic announced on the 19th that its commercially available nRF9151 module has been successfully integrated with OQ Technology's 3GPP-compliant non-terrestrial NB-IoT RAN and 5G core network.

This example demonstrates that it is possible to connect directly to LEO satellites through small, low-power cellular IoT modules without changing the hardware of existing devices.

“Customers want a single solution that isn’t limited by terrestrial network coverage,” says Kristian Sæther, Senior Director of Long Range Wireless Products at Nordic Semiconductor. “By enabling the nRF9151 to connect directly to low-Earth orbit satellites, developers can extend coverage without redesign and reduce deployment costs.”

The nRF9151 is a highly integrated, low-power module that supports LTE-M and NB-IoT, covering a wide range of global frequency bands.

With long battery life and industrial-grade performance, it is highly useful in various IoT fields such as asset tracking, smart metering, industrial monitoring, and infrastructure management.

It has currently obtained certification for two geostationary orbit (GEO) satellite networks and has also successfully completed testing with several LEO satellite networks.

“Our collaboration with Nordic has demonstrated that standard NB-IoT devices can be connected to satellites at scale,” said Omar Qaise, CEO of OQ Technologies. “This is a significant achievement that will accelerate the commercialization of non-terrestrial IoT in a variety of areas, including sensors, trackers, and industrial equipment.”

This success is a simple technical test.It is evaluated as a case that officially confirmed the commercialization possibility of 3GPP-based NTN technology beyond the proof.

In particular, IoT devices can operate stably even in ocean, desert, and mountainous areas where terrestrial networks cannot reach, so their scope of use is expected to expand significantly in various industries such as logistics, energy, defense, and smart cities in the future.

Nordic and OQ Technologies plan to continue working with mobile operators, developers, and OEMs to develop next-generation non-terrestrial IoT devices and expand global coverage.