Ground Control
Procurement partnerAbout
Ground Control designs and manufactures satellite IoT and tracking hardware, and provides satellite airtime and data management services for remote connectivity applications. Their UK-manufactured devices are used across industries including environmental monitoring, maritime, utilities, agriculture, aviation, and defense, supporting customers in 130 countries. They also operate Cloudloop, a cloud-based platform for managing satellite IoT subscriptions, device monitoring, data routing, and asset...
Details
VenSearch Intelligence
Ideal Customer
- Ground Control serves a broad range of customer sizes, from individual developers and small businesses deploying a handful of IoT devices to large enterprises, multinationals, utilities, and government agencies managing thousands of remote assets.
- Their RockBLOCK product line is explicitly designed to be accessible to researchers, hobbyists, and startups with minimal development costs, while their RockREMOTE and custom engineering services target enterprise and industrial customers with complex, mission-critical connectivity needs.
Key Differentiators
- Ground Control differentiates itself as a vertically integrated satellite IoT specialist that designs and manufactures its own hardware in the UK, operates its own certified data delivery network, and provides an end-to-end managed platform (Cloudloop) covering device management, airtime, data routing, and tracking — all under a single vendor relationship.
- The company emphasizes network agnosticism, working across Iridium, Viasat, Globalstar, and emerging NTN NB-IoT networks, and positions itself as uniquely capable of custom engineering for difficult connectivity challenges.
Industries Served
- Ground Control serves a wide range of industries requiring remote connectivity, including oil and gas, utilities and renewables, agriculture, forestry, mining, maritime, aviation, conservation, fisheries, government and defense, emergency services, and environmental monitoring.
- Specific use cases include SCADA/telemetry for pipelines, wind farm data collection, flood warning systems, aerial firefighting, anti-poaching operations, and lone worker safety.
Service Coverage
- Ground Control operates globally, serving customers across 130 countries with hardware manufactured in both the UK and the United States.
- The company has approximately 4,500 active customers and roughly 205,000 devices in active use worldwide, with its longest customer tenure standing at 28 years.
Partnerships
- Ground Control has been a Gold-tier Iridium partner since 2005 and was the first certified Iridium partner to bring a Certus 9704 device to market.
- It was also the first partner to join Inmarsat's (now Viasat's) Elevate program, giving it access to preferential IoT Pro airtime pricing.
Company Size & Ownership
- Ground Control was founded in 2002 and today employs approximately 138–195 people across its UK and US operations, depending on the source.
- Revenue estimates range from approximately $15.2M (GetLatka, 2025) to higher figures cited by other data providers, reflecting the complexity of its multi-entity structure post-merger.
Compliance & Certifications
- Ground Control holds ISO 27001 and UK Cyber Essentials certifications, which it describes as evidence of its investment in processes to protect customer data and systems from cyberattacks.
- The company's Cloudloop platform runs on AWS infrastructure, which carries its own published compliance standards including ISO 27001/27017/27018.
Compiled from public sources by VenSearch · Last researched October 14, 2026
Offerings
11 offeringsA-PNT Solutions
Ground Control provides Alternative Positioning, Navigation and Timing (A-PNT) solutions that deliver an independent position source using Iridium PNT when GNSS signals are jammed, spoofed, or unavailable. Products include RockFLEET Assured for maritime vessels and RockBLOCK APNT for embedded and autonomous systems. The solutions continuously compare GNSS-derived positions with an independent Iridium PNT reference to detect spoofing or outages.
Airtime & Networks
Ground Control offers competitively priced satellite airtime service plans across multiple networks including Iridium SBD, Iridium Certus 100/200/700, Iridium Messaging Transport, Iridium PNT, Viasat Go-anywhere Pro, Viasat IoT Pro, and VSAT via iDirect. Plans are flexible and tailored to individual data volumes, device types, and connectivity requirements. Customers can manage activations, suspensions, and usage through the Cloudloop platform.
Cloudloop Data
Cloudloop Data decodes proprietary satellite IoT message payloads and converts them into structured JSON data that can be routed to multiple destinations simultaneously. Supported delivery methods include REST API, HTTP webhooks, MQTT, email, AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. It supports Iridium SBD and Iridium Messaging Transport, providing real-time message visibility, advanced filtering, and flexible device grouping.
Cloudloop Device Manager
Cloudloop Device Manager (CDM) enables remote monitoring, configuration, troubleshooting, and firmware updates for supported satellite IoT devices including Viasat IoT Pro, Viasat Go-anywhere Pro, and Iridium Certus 100-enabled RockREMOTE devices. Operators can remotely reboot devices, query real-time GPS locations, retrieve system logs, and push over-the-air software updates without requiring on-site visits. Monitoring alerts can be configured to notify teams when devices go offline or behave unexpectedly.
Cloudloop Subscription Manager
Cloudloop Subscription Manager is the airtime and billing management component of the Cloudloop platform, allowing customers to activate services, manage airtime plans, and monitor usage and billing across all connected satellite devices. It supports programmatic control via a full REST API, enabling automated device activation, suspension, and deactivation. Real-time usage data and configurable alerts help prevent unexpected overages.
Cloudloop Tracking
Cloudloop Tracking is a map-based platform that provides real-time and historical position monitoring, geofencing, emergency alert management, and two-way messaging for fleets of satellite-connected assets including vehicles, vessels, aircraft, and personnel. The platform supports unlimited custom geofences with configurable entry/exit behavior, automated email and SMS alert notifications, and customizable fleet labeling and tagging. A comprehensive REST API allows integration of tracking data into third-party platforms and customer systems.
Custom IoT Solution Engineering
Ground Control engineers custom satellite IoT connectivity solutions for customers with specific or difficult remote data transfer challenges, working with developers, manufacturers, and systems integrators. The company's engineering team designs solutions incorporating sensor connectivity, edge processing, satellite and cellular network selection, and integration with the Cloudloop platform. Feature development is described as customer-led, with the team able to customize hardware and firmware to meet specific application requirements.
IoT & M2M Connectivity
Ground Control designs and builds satellite IoT hardware and provides data services for remote IoT applications, working with developers, manufacturers, and systems integrators. Solutions support use cases from farm telemetry and flood warnings to forestry machinery using Iridium, Viasat, Globalstar, and other satellite networks. Hardware ranges from compact SBD modems to IP-capable gateways with edge processing.
Portable Satellite Internet
Ground Control offers a range of portable satellite internet solutions including Viasat Go-anywhere Pro global WiFi hotspots, case-based auto-pointing terminals, vehicle-mounted VSAT systems via the Toughsat series, mobile satellite internet devices, and handheld satellite communicators. Solutions are suited for field teams, vehicles, vessels, and temporary sites that require broadband connectivity beyond terrestrial network coverage. Companion airtime plans are available for all supported device types.
RockFLEET Assured
RockFLEET Assured is a marine-grade A-PNT system in a compact IP67 above-deck dome terminal that continuously compares the vessel's GNSS-derived position with an independent position based on Iridium PNT. It alerts bridge crews and shore-side teams to suspected spoofing, signal degradation, or GNSS outages, and maintains an event log for incident review. The system integrates with Cloudloop Tracking for fleet-wide monitoring and supports optional bridge display integration via NMEA 2000 or NMEA 0183.
Satellite Asset Tracking
Ground Control provides global satellite asset tracking solutions for aircraft, vessels, vehicles, and lone workers, combining rugged hardware with the Cloudloop Tracking platform. The service includes real-time position monitoring, historical journey reporting, SOS alerts, geofencing, and two-way messaging. Tracking devices integrate with partner platforms including TracPlus, IndigoSat, v2Track, and Locate Global.
Considering Ground Control?
Our team will work with you to determine if Ground Control is the right fit for your organization. From research and assessment through procurement negotiation and ongoing vendor management — we handle the entire process at no cost to you.