08 December 2021
Martin Jarrold, chief of international programme development, GVF
Since the Covid-19 pandemic came to necessitate international travel restrictions and the postponement of satellite industry conference events, GVF has been setting a much-lauded high standard for virtual discussion fora.
On 18th November our programme brought together a panel comprising Dr Vagan Shakhgildian, president, Comtech Satellite Network Technologies Commercial Group; Dr Onur Karabey, founder & CEO, Alcan Systems; Tony Taylor, chairman & CEO, Global Invacom Group; and Dr Leslie Klein, President & CEO, C-COM Satellite Systems, and moderated by Jose Del Rosario, consultant with Northern Sky Research to discuss ‘Ground Segment: All Change for a New Satcoms Era’. The dialogue was a continuation of GVF’s long-standing webinar series examination of the satellite communications ground segment. The premise upon which the event was founded is that the ground segment has for too long been considered the less interesting, non-identical twin, to the satellites we place into orbit. Launches and the orbiting of spacecraft are major, attention grabbing, spectacles; outdoor and indoor units of equipment down here on Earth do not offer the same visual excitement. The question is, isn’t this all this is changing, as reflected in the industry having already coined the name “New Ground” to parallel and complement the now familiar term “New Space”?
As the video recording of this webinar (which you can see on-demand and free-of-charge on the GVF website at https://gvf.org/webinar/ground-segment-change-for-a-new-satcoms-era/) illustrates, anyone with this view of the ground segment will be quickly disabused of any such perception by the bold expressions of bullish enthusiasm from the panellists over a full 75-minutes of analytical insights. The size of the live audience, almost 400, and the wealth of audience generated questions, was clearly indicative of significant industry stakeholder interest in what is happening under the umbrella term of “New Ground”. At the end of the 75-minutes the body of audience questions was far from exhausted. As is GVF’s regular practice remaining questions and panellists’ answers have been posted on the GVF website along with the video recording.
The posted written questions and answers cover such topics as a prognosis on the future market for communications over geostationary satellites in the context of explosive development of low Earth orbit (LEO) communications, specifically if geostationary-based communications will transfer to LEO. From a different angle, other questions asked if the market has the stomach for absorbing the failure of part or all of the great LEO megaconstellation project and, if there should be even only one failure and bankruptcy, what happens to the orbital highway if the bankrupted system’s satellites are left in orbit unmanaged.
Additionally, the dialogue brought clarity to any understanding of the nature of the profound changes which the ground segment is undergoing across such topics as satellite’s role in 5G, Artificial Intelligence, virtualisation and software-defined networks, standardisation, and the increasing commercial use of higher frequencies than the long-used C, Ku, and Ka bands.
When embracing the imminent prospect of another new year we habitually tend to turn to appraising the previous 12-months. This tendency is understandably strengthened by a year of pandemic circumstances which have exacerbated our reliance on connectivity. Against this general backdrop – and as we move towards the 5G era, acknowledging (as does the 3GPP Release 17 document due for publication in the first quarter of 2022) that the near-future “network of networks” is the highly significant opportunity that the world has to completely leverage the advantages to be derived from additional use cases for satellite communications – the GVF webinar of 1st December investigates the nature of industry stakeholder dialogues on the current state of the satellite communications industry and its user markets in respect of a swath of interconnected trends engendering transformational changes in the industry, changes that are additionally serving to catapult satellite into a more central position in our everyday lives.
‘Satellite Industry Trends: A Year to Remember, A Year Ahead’ (https://gvf.org/webinar/satellite-industry-trends-a-year-to-remember-a-year-ahead/), moderated by Stéphane Chenard of Euroconsult, assembles a panel of industry experts from across antenna technologies; communications and IT service provision; modem/network management systems/ infrastructure technologies; and NGSO constellation operations. Providing penetrating analysis and insight along with the complementary perspectives of orbital and ground assets are, from Kymeta, David Fotheringham, Director Product Management; from Speedcast, Will Mudge, Vice President, Engineering Operations; from ST Engineering iDirect, Jo De Loor, Vice President, Market Development & Strategy; and from OneWeb, Chris McLaughlin, chief of government, regulatory & engagement.
From a ‘big picture’ perspective the webinar examines the justification, across both space and ground segments, for describing 2021 as “transformational”, defining which trends set it apart from previous years and which are primarily responsible for propelling the satellite industry into a more central position in our everyday lives. The discussion also looks at the impact the industry’s transformational changes are having on the business of space, both strategically for the entire sector and at the scale of the individual company, both corporates and start-ups. A big question for the panel asked if the co-habitation of geostationary and non-geostationary satellites will be a happy orbital marriage in all respects, such as successfully providing complimentary services, and avoiding radio frequency interference.
Returning to dialogue on the business aspects of space, it is clear that recent years have witnessed some significant trends in vertical integration in the satellite industry. More recently we have seen innovative investment relationships within and across industry segments such as investments in OneWeb by Hughes and Eutelsat. Very recently, a major acquisition was announced with the Viasat-Inmarsat deal. The panellists reflected on how these industry patterns and the industry’s current future investment environment will evolve. In another big picture reflection, the panel considered the ongoing impact of the technology and cloud mega-giants on the space industry as we move into a new year with every prospect of more profound transformation.
Until 2022, stay safe!
