Government and defense agencies worldwide are the largest customers of commercial satellite capabilities, but the evolving geopolitical landscape could necessitate more government-owned space assets.

Finnish startup ReOrbit is developing software-based satellites that give nations incentive to own —rather than lease — satellite services, Sethu Saveda Suvanam, founder and chief executive of ReOrbit, tells Connectivity Business News in the latest episode of “The Dish” podcast.

“Today, if you look at how the overall satellite communications market works, largely every government or country has a certain capacity that goes through the [private] space sector,” Suvanam says. “Almost 95% of the countries today are basically leasing this requirement.” 

While placing a nation’s satellite capability through a commercial entity poses the risk of critical data flowing through third-party networks that may be in different countries, many nations can’t afford to buy large, geostationary (GEO) high-gigabyte satellites. These can cost “hundreds of millions of euros,” making leasing the only option for them, Suvanam says. 

Some countries, like Finland, don’t need thousands of gigabytes of capacity and would benefit from less capacity at a lower price, he says.

ReOrbit aims to tackle this conundrum by using a software-based design approach to produce miniaturized GEO satellites that are customizable to the varying requirements of national entities, according to the CEO.

“If you are a country where you have only 75 million [euros], you could actually start with a capacity dedicated for that country, for 75 million [euros],” Suvanam says.

Software-defined satellites provide the flexibility needed for governments that want full control over the source of their data and don’t want to be dependent upon a particular supply chain, Suvanam says. 

“When you’re selling to the government, politics play a big role,” he says.