Orbit determination, defined as the estimation of an object’s orbit in space, enables an operator to ensure its satellite has the orbital accuracy to perform its mission, James Woodburn, fellow and chief orbital scientist at Ansys Government Initiatives, the national security division of software company Ansys, tells Connectivity Business News in this episode of “The Dish” podcast. 

Orbital accuracy maximizes a satellite operator’s return on investment, he says. 

Software-defined satellites 

Woodburn is joined on the podcast by Jim Wertz, adjunct professor of astronautical engineering at the University of Southern California and president of aerospace company Microcosm. 

“Orbit determination is a bear of a problem for spacecraft,” due to drastic changes in atmospheric density in orbit, Wertz says. The ability to reconfigure a satellite through software in response to atmospheric changes can preserve a mission, he says. 

 Woodburn and Wertz expect an uptake in lunar missions in 2025, despite NASA’s recent announcement that it will be delaying its Artemis program. 

“The idea of putting people back on the surface of the moon, I think, is extremely exciting,” Woodburn says. “And I think the best way for us to prepare for this is through the types of [orbit] analysis that we're capable of doing now.” 

Tune into this episode of “The Dish” to hear the full conversation with Woodburn and Wertz. 

The connectivity provider accomplished this through a partnership with SpaceX, Will Mudge, executive vice president and chief technology officer at Houston-based Speedcast, tells Connectivity Business News in this episode of “The Dish” podcast. 

The economic cost of hurricanes includes loss of connectivity, Mudge says. The 2024 hurricane season cost the U.S. $500 billion in damages, according to an estimate by meteorology company AccuWeather in a report published Dec. 2. And extreme weather events have cost the global economy $2 trillion over the past decade, according to a November report by the International Chamber of Commerce. 

People rely on connectivity for applications they may not be aware of, Mudge says. He gives the example of people fueling their cars or generators after a hurricane using credit cards, whose systems rely on connectivity. 

“We, as a culture, have become more dependent on connectivity,” Mudge tells CBN, adding that connectivity firms play an increasingly critical role in disaster relief efforts. 

More so than economics, the stakes include peoples’ lives, Mudge says. 

“[Connectivity] tends to be more about enabling the life-saving mission,” he says. 

Should someone need to go to the hospital during a hurricane or other disaster and the hospital lacks connectivity, it may be unable to access medical records and insurance information, Mudge says.  

“Having that ability to connect and provide that service upfront really makes a big difference,” he says.  

Tune into this episode of “The Dish” to hear the full conversation with Speedcast’s Mudge.

Accommodating rising data needs is complicated, Nir Barkan, chief executive at Jerusalem-based SatixFY, which develops communications technologies, tells Connectivity Business News during this episode of “The Dish” podcast. 

Canadian satellite operator Telesat on Nov. 4 announced it awarded SatixFy a $39 million contract to develop landing station basebands for Telesat’s planned Lightspeed low Earth orbit (LEO) megaconstellation. 

Barkan tells CBN that Telesat’s planned 198-satellite Lightspeed constellation is likely to require hundreds of landing station basebands, which receive signals from a constellation and process the data before rerouting it to the end-users on the ground. 

“The requirements of Telesat for Lightspeed are extremely complex,” Barkan says. “The Lightspeed system really pushes the limit of current technology involving numbers, transceivers and the deep duplex capacity it requires.” 

Barkan expects Telesat to be a “very strong player” in the LEO broadband market, which includes Starlink and Amazon’s Kuiper. 

The emerging satellite direct-to-device (D2D) market is, in part, behind the move toward large constellations, he says, noting that connectivity will soon be available everywhere all the time.  

While Telesat has no plans to enter the D2D market, SatixFy is in talks with other constellation operators that are, Barkan says. He said he expects more D2D customers in 2025, without offered specifics. 

“With more and more companies building networks to support [D2D], it will eventually expand broadband connectivity everywhere, This trend is becoming the new gold rush for the space industry,” he says. 

Tune into this episode of “The Dish” to hear the full conversation with SatisFy’s Barkan.  

“Many new technologies just don’t conform to existing regulations,” Katherine Gizinski, chief executive at Douglas, Isle of Mann-based spectrum consultancy firm River Advisers, tells Connectivity Business News in this episode of “The Dish” podcast. 

River Advisers helps connectivity providers with innovative tech understand international spectrum regulations and views itself as enabling them to tap into lucrative markets. 

“Successfully navigating the regulation and market access considerations will determine the winners and losers in this new paradigm,” Gizinski says. “That’s how you unlock value. That’s how you access those markets.” 

For example, limited spectrum and market access could play a role in mergers and acquisitions among connectivity providers, particularly in emerging markets such as satellite direct-to-device.  

“Spectrum is prime real estate. You can't build a beachfront hotel without a little bit of beach to build it on,” she says. 

But securing spectrum and regulatory approval for a new technology or service could take time, says Gizinski. 

While it’s sometimes assumed that regulations must anticipate new technologies entering a market, that’s not the case, Gizinski says. 

“Regulation is inherently backward-looking,” she says. “You don't want regulators proactively regulating something that doesn't yet exist or that they or the technologists themselves don't fully understand yet.” 

Gizinski says that the regulations in place for satellite operators and telecommunications providers don’t need to be thrown out but it’s important for regulators to have a sense of the “bigger picture” in the connectivity industry and develop mechanisms enabling them to be responsive to industry changes.  

“We, as investors, as an industry, need to acknowledge the limitations of the existing frameworks and work within them to bring the regulations along with us,” she says. 

Tune into this episode of “The Dish” to hear the full conversation with Gizinski. 

Satellites in lower orbits are closer to the user, which typically means they don’t need large, bulky antennas to deliver connectivity, Lukas Nystrom, chief technology officer at Karlstad, Sweden-based satcom terminal supplier Satcube, tells Connectivity Business News in the latest episode of “The Dish” podcast. 

Nystrom credits SpaceX for driving the market shift toward satellite networks in lower orbits and, ultimately, smaller antennas. 

“To get a critical mass of rocket launches, [SpaceX] needed to increase the demand for things to launch into orbit, and launching LEO satellites is a very good way of increasing the demand for rocket launchers,” Nystrom says. 

Satcube in August opened a new mass production facility to accommodate the growing demand for its 8-kilogram flat panel Ku band antennas. The company is focused on solving the efficiency problem associated with much of what’s on the market today, including electronically steered phased array antennas, Nystrom says. 

The semiconductor technology used in most phased array antennas lacks power efficiency, he says, adding that 90% of the energy from the silicon chips used to power these antennas just converts to heat instead of providing a radio signal to the satellite. 

“Instead of radiating toward the sky, you're effectively now just a heat radiator that you carry around in your bag.” 

The only way to protect the antenna from becoming overheated is to add a heat sink, which makes the antennas bulkier, Nystrom says. 

Meanwhile, Satcube advertises its portable terminals as power efficient and able to run on a battery or a power cord due to their small size. 

 Smaller equipment also means more return on investment for satellite operators, Nystrom says. 

“When you shrink the equipment that typically also brings cost reductions, so you can start to tailor to markets that previously did not have the funds to afford this kind of technologies,” he says. 

Tune into this episode of “The Dish” to hear the full conversation with Nystrom. 

To hear more from Lukas Nystrom, CTO at Satcube, on satellite market trends and the state of investment in commercial space, register for the free webinar “Investment in Connectivity: 2024 review and 2025 forecast” on Thursday, Nov. 7, at 11 a.m. ET.Register here for the webinar.  

The rise of constellations has transformed the connectivity industry in the past decade and sparked demand for new technologies, particularly in the mobility sector, Paul Gaske, chief operating officer at Germantown, Md.-based satcom provider Hughes Network Systems, tells Connectivity Business News in this episode of “The Dish” podcast. 

“Obviously, [10 years ago] there were no low Earth orbit (LEO) technologies to speak of,” Gaske says. “Now you have LEO constellations, so that gives a whole new dimension that we can add.” 

An aircraft in motion requires the ubiquitous coverage of a LEO constellation but also depends on the high capacity provided by a large geostationary (GEO) satellite, he says. 

“If you think about an aircraft starting at a gate and then taking off and going up into its flight path and beyond, you have different situations around the airport on the ground and you need a tremendous amount of [connectivity],” Gaske tells CBN.  

Once an aircraft is in the air, it shares satellite capacity with hundreds of other moving aircraft, he says. 

Hughes in July 2023 launched its Jupiter-3 GEO satellite, the largest commercial payload launched to date, Gaske says. Since service from the satellite was turned on in December 2023, Hughes has been able to deliver 100 megabit-per-second circuits to rural locations across the United States, Mexico and parts of South America, he tells CBN. 

“It’s more than double the capacity of what we already had,” he says. 

But the bus-sized satellite can go beyond providing rural broadband. For instance, Hughes will combine its Jupiter-3 capacity with LEO services in partnership with satellite operator Eutelsat-OneWeb to enable in-flight connectivity (IFC), Gaske says. 

Tune into this episode of “The Dish” with the Hughes COO to learn how the company plans to serve the broader customer. 

For more on the state of investment in commercial space, register for the free webinar “Investment in Connectivity: 2024 review and 2025 forecast” on Thursday, Nov. 7, at 11 a.m. ET. Register here for the webinar.  

The International Maritime Bureau estimates a global loss of $25 billion per year within the maritime industry due to piracy, which has been on the rise in the past few years, Robert Bills, president at satellite services company NAL Research, tells Connectivity Business News in this episode of “The Dish” podcast. 

Maritime shipping companies rely on positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services to keep track of cargo, especially their most expensive assets. But large, global networks delivering PNT and location data, such as GPS and GNSS, are increasingly vulnerable as they become more integrated in the world economy, Bills says. 

The major cargo shipping delays in recent years have been a result of the pandemic. However, compromised location data due to a GPS or GNSS network attack could cause a similar effect, he says. 

“The delays of shipping showing up from different places caused all sorts of ripple effects throughout the economy,” Bills says. “So, there's a major economic impact — beyond the safety impacts — that happens as well.” 

NAL Research recently upgraded its SkyLink Citadel anti-piracy maritime solution to include satellite PNT capabilities through satellite operator Iridium’s low Earth orbit constellation. 

The solution aims to back up GPS and GNSS networks in the event a signal is jammed or spoofed, Bills tells CBN.  

GPS has been around for decades and has become interwoven in virtually every aspect of our lives; while it’s unlikely to be replaced, backup systems will be critical in the future, he says. 

Learn more in this episode of “The Dish.” 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has counted 20 major weather and climate events in the United States so far this year, each costing about $1 billion in damages. 

Since NOAA began tracking severe weather events in 1980, damage from the 396 tracked events is approximately $2.8 trillion, according to the agency’s website. 

But critical weather data obtained by satellites or other means must be protected, particularly when traveling through a challenging environment such as a hurricane while being transmitted, Henrik Axelsson, chief executive at content delivery solutions provider KenCast, tells Connectivity Business News in this episode of “The Dish” podcast. 

KenCast works on NOAA’s Hurricane Hunters program, which uses aircraft traveling through a storm to collect weather information in tandem with satellite data, Axelsson tells CBN. 

“It’s quite challenging, as we’re literally on an airplane flying through a hurricane down to the ground, and there’s a lot of signal interruption,” Axelsson says. 

For the program, NOAA’s weather monitoring aircraft are integrated with Norwalk, Conn.-based KenCast’s Fazzt Forward Error Correction (Fazzt FEC) digital delivery system, which is designed to protect mission-critical satellite and terrestrial data, even during network outages, Axelsson says. 

“This use case is almost a perfect poster child for our solution,” Axelsson says, adding that Fazzt took about 30 years to refine.
Fazzt can be used for satellite and terrestrial data and for applications outside of weather monitoring such as automotive and maritime, but Earth observation has seen a pickup in demand, he says. 

“I think in the last five years, we’ve seen a shift with data centers providing connectivity solutions partnering [with] satellite companies,” Axelsson says. “It just provides a lower barrier to entry for a lot of people, when they have one entity they can work with to provide the satellite connectivity and compute [the data] at the same time.” 

The best way to prevent a cyberattack is to integrate flexible, upgradable cybersecurity systems at the design stage[MD1] of the network, according to Paul Kostek, principal systems engineer at aerospace software firm Air Direct Solutions[MD2] and senior member at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Giving the example of AT&T[MD3] ’s July announcement that a hacker had stolen data from nearly all its customers, Kostek tells Connectivity Business News that AT&T not disclose the financial consequences of the hack. Damage control following a cyberattack can have an “enormous cost” compared with designing a secure network[MD4] from the start, he says in this episode of “The Dish” podcast.

Satellite networks are becoming more vulnerable to cyberattacks [MD5] as terrestrial markets [CB6] become dependent on their capabilities, Kostek says. For instance, if GPS satellites were shut off or compromised, global navigation systems would be halted. 

“The cost can be pretty extraordinary,” Kostek says. “When you look at what's going on in the marketplace today, you've got new GPS satellites being launched that cost of billions of dollars.”

More satellites equal more risk

A July report by ESA estimates the number of objects in space to be 35,000 compared with approximately 30,000 in 2022.

And as space becomes increasingly crowded[MD7] , cybersecurity is more critical than ever, Kostek tells CBN.

“If you look at commercial space nowadays, which is exploding, you have people building payloads that are being launched that may have no cybersecurity,” Kostek says. 

Satellites that aren’t built to have cybersecurity can be hacked to cause a collision or damaged to the point at which they can no longer handle the space environment, resulting in an inadvertent collision, he says.

 [MD1]Link: https://connectivitybusiness.com/news/strategy-markets/next-gen-networks-need-secure-by-design-approach-says-comtechs-gizinski/

 [MD2]A Google search shows a closed down air conditioning company with the same name with the same headquarters, but I verified this is a systems engineering/software company.

 [MD3]Link: https://connectivitybusiness.com/news/government-legal/att-asks-fcc-to-pause-on-spacex-t-mobile-satellite-to-cell-waiver/

 [MD4]Link: https://connectivitybusiness.com/news/investments/alphabet-broadcom-spend-92b-on-network-security/

 [MD5]https://connectivitybusiness.com/news/investments/spideroak-raises-16-4m-for-on-orbit-cybersecurity-testing/

 [CB6]This is odd phrasing. Please reword

 [MD7]Link: https://connectivitybusiness.com/news/kessler-syndrome-could-render-low-earth-orbit-unusable-some-believe/

“You could say ignorance is bliss,” but satellite operators need awareness as space becomes increasingly crowded, Chiara Manfletti, chief executive at Coimbra, Portugal-based Neuraspace, tells Connectivity Business News in this episode of “The Dish” podcast. 

Neuraspace this month announced a partnership with international science organization EISCAT Scientific Association, enabling Neuraspace to use EISCAT’s advanced radar, and ionospheric and atmospheric data to improve its solutions for decision-making in space. 

The company aims to “maximize the outcome of operations [and] minimize the operational effort that operators have to go through,” to protect their satellites, Manfletti tells CBN. 

The number of objects in space in 2024 has escalated to 35,000 compared with approximately 30,000 in 2022, and so has the risk of collisions in orbit, according to a July report by ESA. 

On the flip side, companies are more willing to learn the risks of space and take proactive measures to protect their assets, Manfletti says. 

“More and more companies are actually also investing in making sure that we can deal with these risks, so satellites aren’t just sitting ducks hoping nothing will happen to them,” Manfletti says.  

Companies are seeing the value of maneuverability in space, so they’re more willing to invest in propulsion systems and space traffic management solutions, she says. 

Manfletti tells CBN that, while the exact cost of an in-orbit collision is variable and difficult to calculate, the potential economic implications warrant a proactive approach to space sustainability. 

“At the very worst, if we do nothing about it, the economic implications are catastrophic,” she says, adding that reportedly 20% of the European economy alone depends on space. 

Space sustainability has historically been viewed as an environmental issue and still is, but the economic dimension is increasingly significant, Manfletti says.  

“The future is big and that's why I see [in-orbit services] playing a key role as a building block toward this future circular economy in space,” she says. 

Register now for the webinar “Launching forward: The state of the launch market and what it means for the future of the space industry,” on Tuesday, Sept. 10, at 11 a.m. ET. Secure your spot here.

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.

Leighton Carroll, chief executive at Canadian communications technology company Baylin Technologies, was one of the passengers affected by canceled flights.

“The recent IT outage proves that quality connectivity counts within an airport to communicate and make arrangements in these types of situations,” Carroll, who was stuck in Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport last week, told Connectivity Business News following the event. 

Carroll sits down with CBN in the latest episode of “The Dish” podcast to discuss how Galtronics, Baylin’s antenna-focused subsidiary, has capitalized on the demand for reliable airport connectivity.

The company has supplied its multibeam antennas for major airports undergoing network upgrades, including: 

• Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport;
• London Heathrow Airport;
• Salt Lake City International Airport; 
• John F. Kennedy International Airport; 
• New York La Guardia Airport; 
• Dallas International Airport; 
• Los Angeles International Airport; and 
• Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. 

Whether travelers are stationary or walking in an airport, they’re almost always on their mobile devices or laptops, Carroll tells CBN. Their mobile devices are looking for a radio frequency signal as soon as they land, necessitating the right type of antenna to accommodate capacity needs.

For carriers working with Galtronics on airport upgrade projects, aesthetics also matter, he says, so indoor antennas in airports may be so small they blend into the ceiling.

Good connectivity should be so seamless that it’s unnoticeable, Carroll says.

Madrid-based space mobility startup Ienai Space aims to tackle this problem with its ATHENA (Adaptable Thruster based on Electrospray powered by Nanotechnology) technology. 

“At the end of the day, [electric propulsion] saves a lot of propellant mass, which means that it basically directly translates to saving costs,” Daniel Perez Grande, co-founder and chief executive at Ienai Space, tells Connectivity Business News in this episode of “The Dish” podcast. 

NASA estimates that electric propulsion systems can reduce propellant needed by 90% and save satellite operators millions in launch costs.

CubeSats and nanosatellites, which weigh 10 kilograms or less, are being more widely used but have not traditionally had on-board propulsion, Perez Grande says. 

Electrospray thruster technology enables smallsats to function without large, high-power propulsion systems by using liquid ions in space as propellant. 

As space becomes increasingly crowded with the expansion of constellations, satellites will need propulsion to maneuver in orbit, Perez Grande says.

“Most satellites will require a propulsion system, which means that if you’re investing in satellites, you should also invest in propulsion systems,” he says.  

Ienai Space, which has a commercial pipeline of $32.4 million for its ATHENA thrusters, last month announced it raised $4.2 million — a total of $7.6 million since its 2019 founding — toward the demonstration of its electrospray thruster technology, which is planned for the end of this year.

Ansys in October 2020 announced the $700 million acquisition of Analytical Graphics, which specializes in simulation software for the aerospace and telecom sectors.  

Communications systems are increasingly dependent on software as they become more advanced, Haroon Rashid, senior advisory engineer at Canonsburg, Pa.-based Ansys, tells Connectivity Business News in this episode of “The Dish” podcast. 

“The objective of simulation is to help us prepare for these events at all phases of our development of [communications] systems,” Rashid says.

Simulation software can help design satellites with components durable enough to withstand the harsh space environment and prepare them for the aftermath of solar weather events, he says.

Ansys uses data collected by NASA satellites to track solar activity and develop simulation models so that satellite operators can prepare for various scenarios, he says. 

For example, solar flares can extend millions of miles from the sun, trapping charged particles in the ionosphere, which can affect the performance of communication systems, particularly satellites, Rashid says. 

A solar storm in February 2022 caused SpaceX to lose 38 out of a batch of 49 Starlink satellites before they reached orbit. The cost per Starlink satellite is estimated to be between $200,000 and $800,000, according to business intelligence firm Quilty Space. 

 But satellite operators stand to lose more than money, Rashid says.  

Tune into this episode of “The Dish” to hear more from Rashid on how simulation software can save a satellite operator’s mission. 

Wireless Logic is looking to capitalize on the growing demand for satellite IoT in developing countries on the heels of a resale agreement announced last month with SpaceX to integrate Starlink into Wireless Logic’s IoT offering, Paul Bullock, chief product officer at Wireless Logic, tells Connectivity Business News in this episode of “The Dish” podcast.

“It’s a perpetual challenge for developing countries to raise the capital to maintain investment in a wired infrastructure,” Bullock tells CBN.  

IoT enables developing countries to “leapfrog” the countries that spent 15 years establishing fiber connectivity, he says.  

Part of Wireless Logic’s strategy for minimizing infrastructure costs is forming strategic partnerships with satellite operators and cellular operators, Bullock says. 

— Paul Bullock, CPO, Wireless Logic

But constellations are capital intensive, and not every satellite operator is able to overcome the cost challenges to penetrate the market, he says.  

The partnership with Starlink is low risk because SpaceX is able to replenish the mega constellation regularly, Bullock says. 

Beyond delivering ubiquitous connectivity to developing countries, Wireless Logic aims to capitalize on emerging IoT business applications such as product passports that can be used for digital supply chain monitoring, he says. 

IoT, whether satellite-enabled, cellular or both, is about more than just providing an internet connection. The goal is for a business’s entire operation to be integrated with an IoT network to streamline efficiency for each business function, Bullock says. 

“If you’re just doing connectivity, you’re not doing enough,” he says. 

Tune into this episode of “The Dish” to hear from Wireless Logic’s Bullock. 

Investors are drawn to the space market because they find it inspiring, but the pre-pandemic surge in space investment in 2020 was followed by a down cycle in 2022 caused in part by interest rate hikes, Kirk Konert, managing partner at Boca Raton, Fla.-based private equity firm AE Industrial Partners, tells Connectivity Business News in this episode of “The Dish” podcast.

“What happened was, you had a lot of new capital flow into the venture part of the space market and some of the growth stage in 2020 and 2021, maybe early 2022, when money was free and a lot of capital was available,” he says, adding that the trend also spanned other newer markets. 

Konert tells CBN that it could be another decade before the private space sector’s potential materializes. 

“I do think people overpromised on the commercial opportunity [in space],” he says.  

With investment in space slowly picking up, now is the time for companies to be strategic with their business models, responding to existing customer needs, Konert tells CBN.  

The most important customer is the public sector, he says. 

“The biggest buyer of space assets and technologies is the U.S. government and foreign governments around the world,” he says. “To have a viable business model, you need to make sure that you’re solving their problems.” 

Ultimately, commercial space is headed in a positive direction due to the high demand for data that only satellites can deliver, Konert says. 

Applications for commercial satellite data, particularly in the national security sector, are putting institutional investors on notice, Konert says.  

“Valuations might be different than they were a few years ago but there’s still some really interesting business models to fund,” he says.