Michigan-based LooUQ believes it has found a faster path to satellite and cellular IoT with an embedded modem based on Nordic Semiconductor’s Skylo-certified nRF9151 module.

LooUQ’s MTC2-N9151 embedded modem has earned Skylo non-terrestrial network (NTN) to reduce time-to-market for IoT product developers.

Montana water technology company Remsight (www.remsight.com) is already deploying the compact, drop-in embedded modem to monitor water infrastructure across the American west, reaching the field faster and at lower cost than it would have by building its own product from scratch.

Nordic’s smallest and lowest-power cellular IoT module, the nRF9151, lets IoT devices stay connected wherever they are deployed, from dense city grids to terrain with no cellular coverage. It integrates an open application MCU, LTE-M, NB-IoT or Dect NR+ modem, NB-NTN satellite support, and security features in one package, so developers no longer need to add proprietary satellite hardware that costs time and money to develop.

Skylo operates as a standard 3GPP NB-NTN network accessible through mobile network operator (MNO) partnerships, letting certified devices roam automatically between terrestrial and satellite coverage. The nRF9151 earned Skylo certification earlier this year, after a firmware release added full NTN satellite support to its mature LTE-M and NB-IoT offering, marking Nordic’s first step into direct-to-satellite communication from a standard cellular module.

Because the certification sits at the module level, partners such as LooUQ, which builds on the nRF9151, inherit that certification. That matters most for IoT devices deployed far from cell towers, including other smart water sensors, agricultural monitoring, energy infrastructure, asset tracking and logistics devices, where a missed reading carries real operational cost.

LooUQ’s MTC2-N9151 is the first embedded modem to inherit the certification this way. Any product designed around it inherits the certification and can commercially deploy onto Skylo’s NTN service, switching automatically between satellite and cellular depending on coverage, with no change to the application software, due to the capabilities of the nRF9151 module.

The practical effect is a shorter path to market for every company that builds on the certified foundation. LooUQ’s module requires only two external components to integrate into a new product, and its NTN/TN antenna supports both terrestrial LTE and satellite 3GPP NB-NTN bands in a single element, eliminating the need for separate antenna characterisation. Device makers building on the MTC2-N9151 can pursue their own Skylo certification with reduced testing, rather than repeating the certification work Nordic and LooUQ have already done.

LooUQ has been an official Nordic module partner since 2025, aiming to offer carrier-end device certification and further simplify integration and regulatory certification for IoT device makers. 

The nRF9151 is Nordic’s smallest and lowest power cellular IoT module, supporting LTE-M, NB-IoT, NB-NTN and NR+ in one compact module. LooUQ’s MTC2-N9151 exposes the nRF9151’s full pin functionality through the MTC.2 interface and ships with development kits – the MTC2-N9151-BRK-Kit breakout and MTC2-N9151-UXP-Kit with integrated regulators and an I²C-controlled RGB LED – that let developers begin over-the-air testing immediately.

“The nRF9151 was designed to set a new standard for highly integrated and compact modules for cellular IoT and private 5G NR+ applications,” said Kristian Sæther, senior product director at Norwegian firm Nordic Semiconductor (www.nordicsemi.com).

Greg Terrell, CEO of LooUQ, added: “We built the MTC2-N9151 so that the best embedded modem is the one you never have to think about. It works wherever a product ends up. Skylo certification means our customers can promise something remarkable: a device that’s connected everywhere, always. That’s a promise we’re proud to help deliver.”

LooUQ’s MTC2-N9151, including its breakout and development kits, is available immediately for evaluation and production design-in. Development kits can be requested directly at www.loouq.com. Companies designing around the MTC2-N9151 can accelerate their own certification through Skylo’s partner programme; more information on Skylo’s NTN network is available at www.skylo.tech.