By Chris Forrester
Dr Tim Farrar, president of TMF Associates and a well-known industry advisor and commentator, moderated the New Satellite Architectures: On-board Processing, Optical Crosslinks and Interoperability session which was part of the Silicon Valley Space Week and the event’s Satellite Innovation strand.
The session’s panel of experts covered a great deal of ground and Dr Farrar said optical satellite links demanded more examination. “Is there a conflict between what SpaceX was doing and the rest of the sector?”
Jeff Thornberg, CEO, Portal Space Systems, who has worked for SpaceX, said that the market is ‘duking’ it out and there’s the potential for government to make a decision as to whether it will allow one major player, with a considerable market presence, to dominate simply because it is inexpensive and with considerable coverage.
Dr Robbie Robertson, Co-founder/CEO Sedaro, said there were options now for the US Dept. of Defense to decide what it should do with its important financial backing. “Government’s money spend is important, and one dare not bet too much on what might be a mismatched solution. The DoD budgeting rules should be a guide.
Francis O’Flaherty, MD, Rivada Space Networks, praised SpaceX and how rapidly it had made progress with its coverage and service. He mentioned the recent SpaceX deal with agricultural supplier John Deere. Nevertheless, he stressed that Rivada still had excellent opportunities and for those who wanted highly secure delivery of their traffic. “There are many nations which are very concerned about Starlink, and they want to be in control of their own networks. There’s plenty of opportunity for other players, but it isn’t healthy to have just one player dominating.”
Dr Michael Bartholomeusz, CEO at NOVI said he sensed that SpaceX was focussed and not that interested in Earth Observation, for example, which was NOVI’s zone of interest.
Tom Barton, Co-founder/CEO, Antaris, said he did not sense that SpaceX, despite what it was doing, would wholly dominate the segment. “We are going to see greater operability and the volume of handsets controlled by the world’s telcos was very important.” He reminded delegates that 25 years ago there were dozens of cellular handset systems, “but now there are just two”. However, he also said that while in 10 years’ time SpaceX might enjoy 50% of the market, but there would be other players.
Farrar used as an example the battle between Apple and Android, and the appeal of SpaceX is inexpensive, non-premium service, and questioned on the upcoming presidential election and whether a Trump victory would leave Elon Musk in control of cost cutting in Washington and how that could impact not only SpaceX but its competitors.
O’Flaherty said there were some services from SpaceX which directly impacted Rivada’s business plan given that Starlink was so inexpensive relative to what Rivada needed to make a business. “But there’s still opportunities that we are happy with. But SpaceX is a dominant player and who knows whet the next couple of years will bring. But they are giving us some robust competition. I want to see Starship come on line which might give us some savings.”
