By Chris Forrester
A very high-level panel at SVSW and its Satellite Innovation strand brought the CEO of MDA (Mike Greenley), the head of OneWeb Technologies (Kevin Steen) and Frances O’Flaherty (CFO Rivada Space Networks) to discuss future strategies for ambitious satellite operators.
Chairman Aashu Viramani (SVP/Cambridge Consultants) heard the panel agree that standardisation, and the ability to consider hundreds of satellites in an order book would lead to lower prices and even greater innovation for the industry. “We are already at about 10,000 satellites in operation, and it is likely to be 30,000 before long. How would this develop.”
O’Flaherty explained that Rivada’s objective was not so much in the traditional satellite market but in satisfying high-end clients whether governments, financial institutions and was very much focused on some specific niches with is high-speed optical connectivity. “We also need to increase utilisation of the capacity that’s already in place.”
OneWeb’s Steen said that his Eutelsat-owned LEO constellation of 650 craft in orbit but was not focused on individual consumers but in linking with the world’s telcos and run traffic for them and to them was hyper-critical to OneWeb. Steen said he was partnering with telcos although in the context of their own relationships with some key customers, not to compete but to aid the client. He stated that the biggest ‘knot-hole’ was bureaucratic governments around the world, obtaining permissions for reception and operation and market access. “Early 2025 will see us put the final pieces in place which would give us complete global access”.
Steen said he was fascinated by the testing being done by the ‘direct-to-handset’ operators, although standardization will deliver greater benefits was key.
Rivada’s O’Flaherty said that Rivada’s view was that some telcos were clearly in difficult positions. “Our route to market is not to build a 10,000 strong sales force but to work with the carriers to expand and aid their services. We offer mission critical high-security services where the client demands total reliability.”
Greenley amplified MDA’s approach where he stated that the move to standardized satellites was moving rapidly because operators recognised that Standardization will deliver greater benefits delivered a lower price and a much faster move to market, and products that could scale to a number of satellites per day was an obvious advantage. He added that the more that a standard product could be used then MDA as a manufacturer would allow it to get ahead of market demand, “and we are already seeing the benefits of this approach”.
