In this Issue... "Seeking High Returns, Venture Capital Firm Seraphim Bets on Space" An interview wit Matt O'Connell, Seraphim's newest Partner "Better than a VPN: LeoSat's "Always On" Private Network in the Sky" A word with Ronald Van der Breggen, Chief Commercial Officer "SmartSky, Gogo, and the Evolving Battle for the Business Jet Market " with Alan Goodfellow, V.P. of Business Aviation, SmartSky
Volume III, No II February 2018
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Welcome to the February 2018 issue of Gottlieb's Satellite Mobility World. Our magazine is now two years old and in just 24 issues, we've opened a whole new chapter in Satellite Industry publications. We're now read in 43 countries around the world. We're continuing to follow the satellite and mobility sector with a series of candid interviews with the Industry's leading CEOs. We're posing tough questions and addressing controversial issues, and we are never afraid to critique questionable strategies or deflate marketing puffery. This month's feature story focuses on Venture Capital in the space industry. In an interview with Matt O'Connell, Partner in Seraphin Capital, we look at the "hot" space sectors and companies that are generating excitement in the venture capital community. We're also covering the latest developments at LeoSat and SmartSky's upcoming battle with Gogo for the business jet market. You'll find in-depth coverage and unusual insights in each of these interviews. Gottlieb's Satellite and Mobility World is published monthly (except August) by Gottlieb International Group., Inc. Suite 100, 1209 South Frederick Street, Arlington, VA USA 22204 © Copyright 2018 (Tel +1-703-622-8520) Interested in our unique Promotional Capabilities? Contact us today!
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In this Issue:
Industry Trends and Analysis: (pg. 3) "Seeking High Returns, Venture Capital Firm Seraphim Bets on Space" An interview with Matt O'Connell, Seraphim's newest Partner (Pg. 5) "Better than a VPN: LeoSat's "Always On" Private Network in the Sky" A word with Ronald Van der Breggen, Chief Commercial Officer, LeoSat (Pg. 14) "SmartSky, Gogo and the Evolving Battle for the Business Jet Market" with Alan Goodfellow, V.P. of Business Aviation, SmartSky (pg.22) "Recommended Upcoming Mobility Related Satellite Industry Events" (pg. 32)
Industry Trends and Analysis
Speedcast International Ltd (ASX:SDA) Secures Contract Valued at Up to AU$184 Million with NBN Co. Australia Ten-Year Contract Will Accelerate Speedcast's Revenue in Australia and Create New Jobs Sydney, Feb 5, 2018 - (ABN Newswire) - Speedcast International Limited (ASX:SDA), the world's most trusted provider of remote communication and IT solutions, today announced it has secured a 10-year contract with Australian government-owned infrastructure provider NBN Co Limited to deliver enterprise-grade satellite services. Speedcast's wholly-owned subsidiary and dedicated entity, Speedcast Managed Services, will partner with NBN Co to design, build and manage NBN Co's enterprise satellite services. The value of the base network build and managed services project is AU$107 million and with other demand-driven services the aggregate revenue is expected to be up to AU$184 million in total. This new contract will be a transformational project for Speedcast in Australia. Speedcast will leverage its experience as Australia's largest provider of enterprise-grade satellite services to build and operate, in support of NBN Co, a unique suite of satellite services targeted at enterprise and government customers in Australia. To deliver on its mission, Speedcast will set up a new office with world! class specialists in Melbourne to support NBN Co. The services provided by Speedcast will complement NBN Co's consumer satellite service and will serve to increase the availability of enterprise-grade cost-effective communications solutions for Australian businesses. "We are honored and grateful to have been chosen for such an important program and we are excited to play a part in expanding the communication services available in Australia. This contract is another huge success for Speedcast in our efforts to provide next-generation communications solutions to our clients and partners around the world," said Pierre-Jean Beylier, CEO, Speedcast. "I thank NBN Co for their trust in Speedcast's ability to deliver reliable communications services enabling mission-critical applications that enterprise and government customers rely on; something we are passionate about and have been doing very successfully in Australia for many years as well as in over 100 countries a! round the world." As the largest provider of satellite communication services to enterprises in Australia and globally, Speedcast boasts a range of services, technical capabilities and service levels that are second to none in the industry. The innovative solutions and ideas that Speedcast brings will help NBN Co support its mission and provide enterprise customers in Australia with an industry-leading connectivity service. The time required to finalize this material contract means that the contribution previously forecasted to be recognized in 2017 will now be realized in 2018. Phasor Recognized as Top Pick Among NewSpace Ventures Washington, D.C. 31, January, 2018: Phasor,the leading developer of commercial-grade, electronically steered antenna systems for mobile broadband communications, has been singled out by Via Satellite Magazine as one of the top ten companies that “hold serious potential as the NewSpace arena continues to mature”. With heightened demand for lightweight, powerful antenna systems to meet the requirements of commercial mobile broadband markets, powered by both traditional GEO satellites as well as next generation NGSO (Non-Geostationary) satellite constellations, Phasor is poised to enable high-speed connectivity at sea, in the air and on land. Phasor’s breakthrough technology will not only communicate with each kind of satellite system (GEO/MEO/LEO), but will be inter-operable between them from a single aperture, something that is currently impossible with the state-of-the-art mechanically-steered SATCOM antennas. The recognition from Via Satellite comes after a successful, over-subscribed Series B funding-round, which saw Phasor raise $16 million in Q3 2017. Additionally, Phasor was recently featured prominently on Seraphim Capital’s Global Barometer for space tech venture market transactions in 2017. “We are honored to have been highlighted as a stand out in the NewSpace technology field. Phasor’s mission is to empower mobile broadband access across all commercial use-cases and markets, and is on track for a timely commercial product release,” said Dave Helfgott, CEO of Phasor.“Phasor is dedicated to meeting the growing, under-served and unmet needs of today’s network-centric travellers, who require broadband access everywhere, whether that is in-flight, at sea or over land. We look forward to achieving even greater milestones in 2018”. Learn more about how Phasor technology will transform the mobile broadband market and watch our informational video:http://phasorsolutions.com/featured-content Telesat Begins Deploying Its Global Low Earth Orbit (LEO) OTTAWA, CANADA, January 12, 2018 – Telesat announced today the successful launch of its first LEO satellite, an important milestone in the company’s plans to deploy a global LEO constellation that will revolutionize broadband communications services around the world. Telesat’s Phase 1 LEO satellite was launched aboard a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) operated by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The spacecraft was built by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) based in the U.K., a world leader in small satellites and part of the Airbus Defence and Space group. Telesat’s LEO constellation will deliver high-performing, cost-effective, fiber-like broadband anywhere in the world for business, government and individual users. The initial constellation will consist of approximately 120 satellites by 2021 and Telesat is evaluating options to expand its system beyond this initial configuration. The company’s Phase 1 testing will demonstrate key features of Telesat’s LEO system design, in particular the capability of the satellite and customer terminals to deliver a low-latency broadband experience that MEO and GEO satellites cannot provide. Telesat has installed ground infrastructure at its teleport in Allan Park in Canada to support testing and has customers in growing enterprise segments who will be participating in trials during 2018. “Telesat has a long record of industry firsts that have brought major satellite innovations to market and our LEO constellation will be another breakthrough that transforms global communications,” said Dan Goldberg, Telesat’s President and CEO. “The launch of our Phase 1 satellite is the starting point in making our next generation LEO system a reality and we thank SSTL and ISRO for the success of the mission to date. Telesat is uniquely positioned to deliver the world’s most advanced and capable LEO constellation given our deep technical expertise, strong track record of innovation, senior spectrum rights, and laser-like focus on customer service and support. We look forward to beginning customer trials on Telesat LEO and continuing to collaborate with industrial partners as we work to deploy a state-of-the-art, high capacity network that will deliver trans-formative, low latency, fiber-like broadband to commercial and government users throughout the world.” SAS Commences M2M and IoT Tests with Globalsat Group in Central and South America Perth, WA, February 5, 2018: Sky and Space Global Ltd (ASX: SAS, “Sky and Space Global” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce it has commenced testing of Machine-to-Machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) services in the Central and South America region in partnership with Globalsat Group LLC. The partnership will potentially provide Sky and Space Global with access to a new market, while enabling Globalsat Group to expand its connectivity services. The collaboration between the two companies started with a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which was signed in March 2017. The MOU allows the two companies to explore a commercial relationship with a view to SAS to providing narrow-band satellite communication services to customers of Globalsat Group in Central and South America. The intention is that upon completion of a successful testing program, the companies will commence discussions on a binding commercial agreement to replace the existing MOU. The testing follows the successful launch of the SAS narrow band communication satellites, the 3 Diamonds, in June 2017 and the subsequent testing, optimization and operation of the 3 Diamonds to deliver world first phone calls, instant messaging, data transfers and financial transactions using nano-satellites during Q3 and Q4 2017. SpaceX Claim of "nominal" Performance on Zuma Mission Backed by Airforce SpaceX Gets Vote of Confidence from Airforce Washington -January 22, 2018: According to Airforce General John Thompson, his investigative team did not identify any information that contradicts SpaceX's assertion that their Falcon 9 Rocket performed "nominally." The announcement seems to support Iridium CEO, Matt Desch's conclusion that the failure was most likely a result of a failure of the "dispenser," which was the responsibility of Northrup Grumman. SpaceX Customer Iridium Blames Northrop Grumman for Missing Satellite Satellite likely burned up or crashed into the ocean in the secretive mission code-named Zuma Washington - January 12, 2018: Iridium CEO Matt Desch defended launch partner SpaceX noting that the failure to launch the secretive mission was more likely the fault of Northrup Grumman. This is a typical industry smear job on the ‘upstart’ trying to disrupt the launch industry,” Desch said on Twitter Thursday. “SpaceX didn’t have a failure, Northrop Grumman did. Notice that no one in the media is interested in that story. SpaceX will pay the price as the one some will try to bring low.” While Desch noted that the cause of the failure is yet to be determined, it was most likely caused by a "dispenser" failing to release the satellite - a mechanism that was Northrup Grumman's responsibility. To date, Iridium's association with Space X has been a great success with SpaceX responsible for four successful Iridium NEXT launches taking the NEXT constellation to 50 per-cent of completion with a launch of 40 satellites and putting the company on track for completion of the NEXT launch program by mid 2018. ViaSat Affirms Commercial Service Launch for February 2018; Provides Updates on In-Orbit Testing CARLSBAD, Calif., Jan. 9, 2018 -- ViaSat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), a global communications company, announced today it has begun beta service on the ViaSat-2 satellite, and affirmed plans for full commercial service launch in February 2018. The ViaSat-2 satellite system is expected to significantly improve speeds, reduce costs and expand the footprint of broadband services across North America, Central America, the Caribbean, a portion of northern South America, as well as the primary aeronautical and maritime routes across the Atlantic Ocean between North America and Europe. To-date, Viasat has successfully completed a number of key performance tests on the ViaSat-2 satellite and end-to-end network, including demonstrating downstream speeds of over 100 Mbps to production consumer terminals. The satellite ground network and other networking technologies are performing better than initially planned as measured in successful alpha testing. The satellite will continue to undergo testing during the beta service period, as Boeing has identified an in-orbit antenna issue, which has caused some spot beams to perform differently than they did during ground testing. Boeing, with Viasat's support, is working to determine the root cause of the issue and to identify corrective measures. Based on measured data and analysis of the current in-orbit performance of the satellite as well as the network as a whole, Viasat believes the issue will not impact the coverage area of the satellite, or materially impact the planned services and the expected financial results from the ViaSat-2 system. Mark Dankberg, chairman and CEO, Viasat said, "Our advanced ground network, coupled with the flexibility features of the ViaSat-2 satellite, will help us manage the impact from the identified antenna issue if needed. We look forward to launching commercial service next month and bringing new higher-speed fixed and mobile services to market." The Company will provide an update on the status of the ViaSat-2 service launch plans and ViaSat-1 based market testing of these plans at the next regularly scheduled earnings conference call, planned for early February 2018. Panasonic Avionics Unveils Third Generation Satellite Communications Network Substantially increased bandwidth, greater reliability, enhanced network management and new operational tools LAS VEGAS – January 8, 2018 – Panasonic Avionics Corporation (Panasonic) has today introduced a major evolution of its satellite connectivity service with the introduction of its third generation communications network. Panasonic’s third generation network is built to meet the growing connectivity demands of airlines and their passengers. Throughout the first quarter of 2018, aircraft from a number of airlines will be transitioned to Panasonic’s new network. In addition, Panasonic subsidiary, ITC Global, will leverage Panasonic’s new broadband network to deliver connectivity to its energy, maritime and enterprise customers. Hideo Nakano, Chief Executive Officer of Panasonic Avionics Corporation, says: “Our new satellite communications network is more than just greater bandwidth – it represents a major evolution in our approach to partnering with customers to deliver the highest standards of service and to ensure that their passengers enjoy an unmatched, connected experience inflight.” The new communications network is built on Panasonic’s high throughput satellite service, which today covers all dense mobility traffic areas around the globe with high throughput spot beams and wide overlay beams that support Panasonic’s global inflight television service. When combined with the rollout of the company’s new satellite modem, developed in conjunction with Newtec, Panasonic now offers bandwidth up to twenty times greater than previously available. This supports the provision of services such as fast internet, video streaming, VoIP applications, improved TV picture quality and a broader channel choice, the capability to offer 3G phone services, and greater bandwidth for crew applications. The network is backed by a range of new measures Panasonic has launched to provide higher levels of support to its customers. These initiatives are channelled through Panasonic’s new Customer Performance Center, which drives enhanced network performance, reduced outage times, and faster response and resolution times for all customer inquiries. The Customer Performance Center offers a range of value-added services including traffic shaping tools, live monitoring and management of the user experience, and Panasonic’s ZeroTouch™ service, which enables real-time content loading, validation and management. Additionally, Panasonic is offering new business intelligence tools and reports that provide customers with the data and analytics to deliver targeted pricing and advertising campaigns. Today, over 1,800 aircraft flying routes all around the world use Panasonic’s global high-speed inflight connectivity service. The company expects more than 10,000 aircraft to be connected to its world-class global high-speed communications network by 2025. Speedcast International Ltd. Awarded Noble Drilling Contract for Global Fully-Managed Communications Sydney, Australia (ABN Newswire) - Speedcast International Limited (ASX:SDA), the world's most trusted provider of highly-reliable, fully-managed, remote communication and IT solutions, today announced that the company has been selected by Noble Corporation plc ("Noble") (NYSE:NE) to provide new IT communications equipment and fully-managed connectivity services to their global drilling fleet. Speedcast is uniquely positioned to offer a global "network of networks", allowing its customers to leverage the most robust, integrated network infrastructure available combined with the latest technology to deliver a superior service which meets customers' global requirements and pushes the envelope of innovation. Through a combination of satellite Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSAT) and 4G/LTE in key regions, Speedcast will deliver end-to-end managed communication services to Noble's fleet of vessels and rigs. The solution includes a technology change-out of the fleet's entire hardware infrastructure, with installations of dual-band antennas and the latest modem technologies to maximize throughput, security and redundancy. Noble will also benefit from segmented operational and crew networks to optimize efficiency and network availability. The end-to-end service will be supported by Speedcast's 24x7x365 global customer service centers, with local field engineers in each operating region to provide fast, reliable support, unmatched in the industry. "This award is a milestone endorsement of the investment we have made to establish Speedcast as the global leader in the energy sector. We are delighted to add Noble's global fleet to the premier energy customers that already place their trust in Speedcast," says Speedcast's COO and EVP of Energy, Keith Johnson. "This award allows us to demonstrate our truly global scale for reliable service in the most remote, harsh environments where critical and high priority connectivity solutions are required. We strive to instill the highest level of trust with our detailed, agile and flexible approach to meeting our customers' unique requirements and solving their most significant communications and technology challenges." Speedcast has extensive experience serving customers in the energy industry, supporting the top global drilling contractors, producers, and service companies. The company operates the world's most robust network in the industry, utilizing over 70 satellites with full redundancy over all major operating regions, an agnostic approach to the latest access technologies and an unmatched team of over 250 field engineers in 40 countries available 24x7 to deliver a fully-integrated, one-service experience for customers both onshore and offshore.
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Seeking High Returns, Venture Capital Firm Seraphim Bets on Space
An Interview with Seraphim Capital Partner, Matt O'Connell
As major successes like SpaceX, Planet Labs and GeoEye have emerged into the media spotlight, venture capital investment firms are taking a fresh look at space based ventures. Once an area dominated by corporate giants, rapidly falling launch costs and the emergence of low cost, small satellite technology have lowered barriers to entry, opening the door for a flood of start-ups in satellite launch, communication, imaging and data analysis. To get an overview of the state of VC investment in the sector, as well as a look at the sectors and companies attracting the most investor interest, we called on Seraphim Capital's newest Partner, former CEO of OneWeb and GeoEye, Matt O'Connell. SMW: I understand that Seraphim Capital’s focus on the space industry essentially accelerated significantly with the formation of the “Seraphim Space Fund” launched in Q 4 2016. Could you give us some background on Seraphim’s history prior to the launch of the space focused fund, partners in the new fund and what investments have been made since the fund’s launch? Matt O'Connell: Of course. The core team has worked together for a decade under the Seraphim name. The first fund was a generalist technology fund that was raised in 2006, and it invested in artificial intelligence, sensor technology, computer vision and new materials. That fund is currently in harvest mode, and there have already been three exits. Last year, Seraphim raised its first space focus fund, “Seraphim Space Fund,” and the fund has already made five investments with a sixth closing shortly. Major investors in the Fund include the British Business Bank and a lot of European based space companies like Airbus Defense and Space, Telespazio and the European Space Agency (ESA). Given the British Business Bank investment, all companies in which the fund invests have to agree to have some connection with the UK - an office there, build products there, etc. Since then, there has been so much interest from the investment community in space that Seraphim is going to raise capital for a global space fund, and that’s one reason why I became involved. With its global focus, the new fund should generate a lot of interest from major corporate investors since the big firms cannot easily invest and sit on the boards of numerous, small start-up companies. For these firms, we’re sort of an outsourced R and D specialist firm with Partners who have specific expertise of high value. In addition to the funds themselves, another interesting area in which we are involved is a space based “accelerator.” It’s an endeavor where we become involved as advisors to promising companies , helping them grow to the point where they become eligible for financing. SMW: Since the inception of the space focused fund, what sort of investments have been made, and what are the primary interest areas of the fund? Matt O'Connell: Seraphim, to date, has made five investments but only disclosed two of them which are Spire, the weather focused satellite constellation, and the other is Iceye, a constellation of micro radar satellites that used radar to see through clouds. Iceye is a company that is typical of a new breed of analytics focused companies which have generated special interest. It not only gathers data but transforms it into useful information for customers. Another example of this type of gathering and analysis vertical integration is Spaceflight of Seattle. In 2016, they bought a company that just does analytics. You are going to see more examples of this sort of consolidation where imaging is combined with analytics. So, while satellites are important, we believe there is a need to focus on making the information easier to use, not just gathering data. Some other areas that interest us are launch companies, components, and mapping companies. For example, Rocket Labs just had a successful launch and Vector Launch - firms focused on launching small satellites -are both coming along strong. There is a lot of venture money in the segment because the industry has seen dramatic value creation, and in, particular, because the access cost to space has come down dramatically. The evolution of satellites to smaller sizes and the coming of mass produced satellites has opened up a lot of opportunities for small companies and start-ups. So far, launch has attracted the largest amount of investment i.e. SpaceX, which is no longer a venture stage company, and Blue Origin which is funded personally by Jeff Bezos. Given the growing applications for small satellites, Investors are also looking for more small satellite launch alternatives. While SpaceX has provided a credible low-cost alternative to large satellite launch, it is not suitable for economic launch of small satellites like Rocket Labs and Vector. The second most popular area has been the telecom small satellites area i.e. Softbank’s investment in OneWeb, Sky and Space Global,. Another investor focus is imaging and includes companies like Planet Labs, Spire, Orbital Insights, Mapbox, and Spaceflight. Upcoming areas of interest include onboard servicing of satellites, cyber security, artificial intelligence, component manufacture, and GEO satellites life extension programs. As we both know, those ventures with tight, business oriented focus will continue to be the most popular. SMW: Can you explain Seraphim’s relationship with the European Space Agency? I have noted that funding often dries up for ESA backed companies once initial grants expire. Will Seraphim fill that gap, or do you anticipate significant other participation be required? Matt O'Connell: I think it’s a good pipeline for venture investment. Seraphim works closely with the ESA, and they are partners as well as investors. Between us, information flows both ways. We send them opportunities from the Seraphim deal flow for potential grant investment, and they send us opportunities for equity investment. Two ESA executives are on Seraphim's Board of Advisors, Nick Appleyard runs their downstream business applications group and Frank Salzgeber who heads their technology transfer and incubator program. It is important to note that while we work together, our interests are somewhat divergent. ESAs mission is to grow the space sector while our motivation is to make money for our investors. SMW: In 2015 Seraphim Managing Partner, Mark Boggett, announced a program to develop a network of non-Executive directors composed of senior satellite industry executives the purpose of which would be to facilitate access to new investment opportunities. How has that initiative worked out, and are you getting a significant number of investment referrals? Matt O'Connell: We are getting a lot of introductions and deal flow from our group of non-executive directors around the globe. To date, the program has been quite successful. SMW: The satellite industry is rapidly evolving. First generation HTS technology has flooded the market with capacity and driven down the stock prices of major satellite operators. Meanwhile, there is a rush to LEOs. Unlike first generation HTS GEOs, some of the new LEO offerings feature onboard processing and real-time beam forming capabilities making them more efficient and versatile. In addition, small satellites seem to be increasingly taking on the applications of GEOs. How do see the satellite industry changing in the next 3-5 years? Matt O'Connell: The next three to five years are going to be very exciting. The satellite telecom industry I think is going to see further consolidation. There is a lot of demand for bandwidth but a lot of the guys like Mark Dankberg have asked where is the demand and what is it for? Most of the demand is in the developing world and a lot of it is for applications like video streaming. So, it remains to be seen whether the LEOs can effectively challenge the GEOs because the GEO’s offer more robust bandwidth streams. (Editors Note: while GEO satellites are significantly more powerful than mid-size and small LEOs, it's important to note that the amount of power required to deliver high speed data transmission is magnitudes less from lower orbits where LEOs operate, a fact that could open the door to LEOs competing in the high speed data transmission market). Another question is whether there is enough disposable income in the developing markets to support the mass purchase of satellite Internet. Investors are asking whether delivery of these services can actually be profitable in the developing world? If LEOs are being built to serve the developed world can they also serve the developing world profitably? I think they can if they keep their costs low, but that’s a big "if. " Another factor is competition. A lot of investors are asking whether given the competition, these new constellations can make a return worthy of their investment? There is a lot of bandwidth on line and there is a lot more coming on by 2019-2021. ViaSat is launching ViaSat 3. The LEOs are coming on stream. 5G is coming as well. You already see great pressure on some stocks given the potential for bandwidth over supply. I think that is going to continue. That leads me back to the conclusion that in 3-5 years there is going to be more consolidation. It is going to hurt some people and help others. For example, while satellite operators will be under increased pressure, integrators can put together less expensive service packages which will encourage growth. Hardware manufacturers should also benefit as regardless of the cost of bandwidth, many more antennas modems and associated infrastructure will be required. SMW: What about 5G? Will the ultra-high performance associated with 5G make it difficult for satellite to compete in markets where 5G is deployed i.e. Internet to home? Matt O'Connell: I think it’s important to remember that while satellite companies can disrupt the delivery of Internet services to certain markets, telecom providers like Verizon and cable companies have magnitudes more capital available and can fight back to retain their market share with massive new investments in deployment of new cable, 4G, 5G and fiber. While satellite might be able to do a good job in serving unserved and under-served markets, whether they will be able to compete with the Gigabit speeds on the horizon with 5G is an open question. So, this brings us back to the question as to where do the LEOs want to compete? SMW: What about flat panel antennas. Do you see this segment as a segment of major interest given the emergence of LEOs? Matt O'Connell: I have always been a fan of the flat panels. I would say that the flat panels are really important. You have done a great job of covering Phasor, for example. I think you have touched on a very important question: how will these LEOs connect to the customer? The question is whether you are building a constellation to connect with some rich guy in Bethesda or a school in Ethiopia? They can't both support the same level of infrastructure. SMW: Finally, What do think about the connected car? Will satellite play a major role? Matt O'Connell: I am a big fan of the guys at Kymeta and have followed their work on the connected car. However, if you look at Rupert Pearce’s recent comments on the connected car, he’s become a bit more restrained as to the role of satellite technologies and seems to be saying that there are a lot of other technologies that could serve this emerging segment. If you ask Qualcomm as well, they believe the connected car will be best served by terrestrial technology. I think that a lot of people get dazzled by the “coolness” of space and fail to realize that there are a lot of technologies that could be more practical in certain applications. I think connected cars ultimately are going to be part of everyday life and that terrestrial will be a more likely bandwidth supplier to vehicles than satellite. SMW: Matt, thanks so much for your commentary. I think your comments will be especially supportive of entrepreneurial efforts in the space sector. Clearly, availability of start-up and early stage capital will be a definite catalyst to the the commercial space industry. A.G.
"The evolution of satellites to smaller sizes and the coming of mass produced satellites has opened up a lot of opportunities for small companies and start-ups."
About Matt O'Connell: Mr. O’Connell is a Partner in Seraphim Capital. Prior to joining Seraphim, Matt was CEO of OneWeb. In January, 2013, as CEO of GeoEye, he concluded its sale to DigitalGlobe. Mr. O’Connell founded GeoEye in 2006 by merging 2 satellite imaging companies, Orbimage and Space Imaging. Under his leadership from the spring of 2003, GeoEye grew from 60 employees producing $9 million of revenue per year, with an equity value of zero and total enterprise value of $33 million to 760 employees producing $360 million (2012) and a total enterprise value around $1.3 billion. Mr. O'Connell has extensive experience in communications management and finance. Prior to joining GeoEye, Mr. O'Connell held executive positions Crest Advisors, a New York-based private merchant bank, Sony Worldwide Networks, and Cablevision. Systems Corporation. He began his career as a mergers and acquisitions attorney on Wall Street.
With the advent of IoT, M2M and Big Data analysis, moving massive amounts of data securely across the globe is rapidly becoming a critical priority. While fiber has traditionally served this market, its inherent vulnerability to hacking has opened an opportunity for high speed data communication via satellite. Enter LeoSat. By combining the ability of satellites to transmit data though space at speeds faster than fiber, adding optical inter-links between satellites and eliminating gateways, LeoSat will offer customers what is essentially a VPN is space, a relatively intrusion proof network faster and more secure than fiber. To better understand the attributes of this unique satellite infrastructure, we interviewed LeoSat's commercial director, Ronald van der Breggen at PTC in Hawaii. SMW: I understand 108 satellites are planned. It’s not clear whether multiple gateways will be required, or will all users communicate with the satellites using their own terminals. Please explain the proposed architecture. Ronald van der Breggen: Yes, our filing is for up to 108 satellites and we will initially deploy 84 satellites, of which 6 will be in-orbit spares. Our architectures is global and it is "touchless." This means that to go from any location on earth to any other location on earth, you will go up from where you are to the satellite and you will stay in the constellation until the signal reaches the satellite over the destination from where the signal will be transmitted down to close the circuit. This architecture works the same for point-to-point, point-to-multi-point and fully meshed topologies. As gateways are not required as part of the service infrastructure, a key vulnerability point is eliminated, resulting in enhanced security. While certain customers may make use of gateways (potentially offered by separate providers) for specific applications where that makes sense, there is no technical requirement to do so. SMW: Has the cost of the project changed? What is the current estimated cost? Is it still $3.6 Billion and how much of the funding has been secured? Will ECA financing be involved in the project? Ronald van der Breggen: The current estimated cost projection hasn’t changed and we are well on track to close Series A which is a 100 Million dollar round and yes, ECA financing will be involved. SMW: Do you have any strategic partners other than Sky Perfect JSAT and Globecomm? Do you have other MOUs or LOIs that will be announced in the coming months? Ronald van der Breggen: There will be additional strategic partners as part of our Round A closing , but we not foresee any additional announcement on that prior to closing that round. As for additional MOUs and LOIs with customers: we have a very healthy pipeline of potential agreements and expect to make more announcements in the near future. SMW: While the satellites have onboard processing for data routing and you are essentially offering an MPLS network in the sky, will the satellites have the ability set up and focus a beam in real time or are the steerable antennas the primary means to target users? Ronald van der Breggen: The answer is both. We are using steerable antennas, but have the ability to activate new beams as necessary for our customer requirements. LeoSat has an extraordinarily flexible method of provisioning, with a combination of spot beams and dynamic channel allocations. SMW: What about the inter-satellite links? How will they work? I understand they will rely on Rouag’s optical technology and will use lasers. What speeds are anticipated across the optical links? How many links will you deploy and what will be their capacities? Ronald van der Breggen: We are analyzing many possible laser suppliers and are happy to see that a wide field of companies are developing great solutions in this area. We shall make our final vendor decision before the end of Phase B, which is currently on schedule. What is already clear and decided is that each spacecraft will have 4 lasers, linking it to its adjacent satellites. This means that we will deploy 84 X 4 or a total of 336 lasers, each capable 10 Gbps. 4 lasers will connect each satellite to the 4 satellites around it to the north, east, south and west. This will create a full mesh that will bring the most flexible routing options, allowing us to provide the CIRs and SLAs that can meet and exceed those that are offered by the providers of terrestrial infrastructure. Please note that when we communicate our total system capacity (1.7 Tbps). This is the total capacity available for customers and does not include the backbone capacity provided by the lasers . SMW: Then, what about the speeds of your satellite to customer links? Ronald van der Breggen: Our customer links range from a low of about 100 Mbps to as high as 5.2 Gbps enabling data to be transmitted to any destination in the world with the lowest latency of any satellite system . With our design, the data never touches the ground, except at the customers premises. SMW: When and how will you demonstrate communications between the LeoSat satellites? Ronald van der Breggen: We are working with our vendors to create the testing facilities that are necessary to fully test our entire solution. This includes the testing of the optical links, following a process that has been used on other deployments and proven to be reliable. We will determine the specifics, time and scope of the testing programs once the designs has been fully finalized and all components have been selected, which is a process that will be completed this year. SMW: What about user terminals? Will you need Electronically Steered Antennas (ESAs)? Ronald van der Breggen: We will integrate both mechanical and electronic antennas. We are acting pro-actively with a partner program to ensure the development of some ESA’s that will be fitted to our specific solution. The number of antennas is, of course, a decision that a customer makes based on his requirements. Anywhere from one phased array to 3 (parabolic +backup) is possible. Size is again part of the design and developments of the antenna manufacturers in the coming years, but our customers are definitely living with the expectation that within the next 4-6 years, a desk-size 1 by 2 meter phased array should be able to carry between 150 and 350 Mbps and come in on a price of between $50K to $70K. SMW: What about licensing? According to Dan Goldberg, Telesat has the first priority to access the Ka Band frequencies: He states “I will note that Telesat has a Ka-band NGSO filing of higher priority at the ITU than any other commercial LEO aspirant and that puts us in the strongest position in terms of our spectrum rights.” Doesn’t that mean that you must coordinate with Telesat and in case of interference, they have priority rights to operate? I also understand that they have secured rights from the FCC to operate in the U.S. Does LeoSat have the same rights? Ronald van der Breggen: Dan didn’t describe the full picture with regard to their ITU position. Telesat is using two constellations, one that is a Polar Orbit and a second one that is a Walker Orbit. Only the Polar Orbit has preference over our filing. Their second constellation in the Walker Orbit is behind our ITU filing. Therefore, we will need to coordinate with their Polar and they will need to coordinate with us for their Walker. This pretty much assures a balanced result. In regard to operation in the U.S., like everyone else, we filed for this in November, and likely will be granted a license in February. SMW: Given that you are not using gateways, are there any issues regarding landing rights? For example, will the Chinese allow you to do this? Ronald van der Breggen: Similar to every other satellite company Leosat will comply with local rules and regulations when providing our services. If gateways are put in place by our resellers, then that will be either be based on an application requirement or as part of the agreement associated with landing right in such particular country. Our gateway independent, ‘touchless’ architecture does not prohibit us from putting in place a gateway where that makes commercial sense, either from an application- or a regulations perspective. SMW: I understand from previous commentary that key markets are B to B and essentially applications that require data transmission over great distances at sub fiber latencies i.e. high frequency trading. What other markets do you see as key and which ones will you initially target? Ronald van der Breggen: The applications that we support are very diverse but typically center around one of the following requirements: Ability to connect multiple remote areas as part of one single network with LAN performance, Highly secure infrastructure meeting the strictest (military) standards and/or Low latency requirement equaling terrestrial specifications Consequently, we are actively targeting Enterprise, Government, Oil&Gas, Maritime, Media and Trunking/Backhaul. Our MOUs are nicely distributed over these verticals and as such are a reflection of the successful positioning of our value proposition in these markets. Speaking of value proposition: we are combining the benefits of fiber, being able to offer high capacity and low latency pipes , with the benefits of satellite: rapid deployment, security and ubiquity (GEO). Combining these already makes for a very strong value proposition, but we are adding a few more benefits unique to LeoSat: total ubiquity, lower latency than fiber, higher Security than non-GEO satellites (we don’t need Gateways which are a point of vulnerability) and scalability. Scalability is of particular interest to MNCs. Operating as our service gives them the flexibility to easily, efficiently and cost-effectively expand and replicate business operations in multiple counties. To be able to do so using the exact same hardware, software, processes and skill sets, all by virtue of using the same (LeoSat) infrastructure in all locations, is of immense value to the successful roll-out of expansion plans in terms of time, cost and above all, success rate. More generally speaking though, by combining the strengths of both fiber and satellite and adding a few of our own, we have successfully upgraded ‘satellite services’ to now become a solution of choice, rather than the traditional ‘solution of last resort. One can simply not overestimate the value of that in terms of additional revenue streams that now become available. Within our target verticals, we find ourselves more in front of CIOs and network managers than in front of satellite people and are engaged in discussions and budgets that have never been open (and never will be open) to vendors of traditional bent-pipe and gateway-dependent satellite solutions. SMW: I understand Thales will build the satellites. Is the deal already closed and, if so, are you still scheduled to start building the satellites in 2019? Ronald van der Breggen: Our agreement with Thales is not a single deal, it consist of a multitude technical and financial agreements that are phased in time. With all the agreements and their timing we are well on track for building the constellation starting in 2019. SMW: What is your timetable for launch of the satellites and inauguration of commercial service? Ronald van der Breggen: We are targeting the launch of our first satellite in 2019 and will start offering limited services as of that date. Additional services can be added when 1 and 2 orbits are in operation around 2020/2021. Full service availability is scheduled for 2022. SMW: Great commentary, Ronald. Thank you for telling us about LeoSat's unique and innovative approach to satellite based high speed, secure data transfer. I'm certain that our readers will find your commentary noteworthy.
Gateway-less infrastructure offers unique advantages to government and corporate users
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About Ronald van der Breggen Ronald van der Breggen, Chief Commercial Officer of LeoSat Enterprises, has more than 20 years of experience in the telecom and satellite sectors. A native of the Netherlands, van der Breggen began his telecom career at Dutch Telecom incumbent KPN, rising to VP IP Services. From 2003 to 2013, he served as Vice President Customer Account Management at SES, one of the world’s leading satellite operators. Ronald holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Nijenrode University as well as a Masters in Business Telecommunications from the Technical University of Delft, both in the Netherlands.
An Interview with Alan Goodnight, Vice President Business Aviation at SmartSky
SmartSky, Gogo and the Evolving Battle for the Business Jet Market
As demand for business jet connectivity increases at a staggering rate, the race to connect business and ultimately commercial aircraft with satellite or ATG has become highly competitive. While Inmarsat and Panasonic now have Ka-Band and Ku-Band systems available for the largest business jets, ATG can be used on the large aircraft either alone or in combination with satellite, but due to dish antenna mount restrictions, is the only feasible broadband solution for smaller business jets. In the ATG market, both SmartSky and Gogo are launching networks based on unlicensed spectrum. SmartSky is closing on its networks' mid 2018 launch point, and Gogo is in hot pursuit. As the competition intensifies, we are keeping an eye on this highly dynamic market. To find out how the demand for business jet connectivity is evolving as well as the competitive dynamics between players, we arranged an interview with SmartSky Vice President of Business Aviation, Alan Goodnight. SMW: What, in your view, are the current trends in the business jet connectivity market? How are most of the aircraft currently served and how do you see the industry evolving to high speed broadband connectivity? Alan Goodnight: As you know, for several years now, connectivity has been the number one issue in the business aviation industry. It’s not unusual to find VIPs who would not agree to go if they couldn’t get connectivity to the Internet. It’s now an expectation whether you are an owner or a charterer. Secondly, and more important, as it relates to what we are doing, is the upload and download capability ot the networks. So, the bi-directional aspect of our network is really hitting the bulls eye for an evolving customer in regard to their expectations. It’s really much more about the ability to get data off the aircraft than it is to use Facebook. For example, sending a spreadsheet, or a large PowerPoint. When VIPs press the “send” button, it’s about getting the data where it’s going as fast as if it were sent on the ground. The infrastructure we are building speaks to this requirement and is right in line with the rising expectations of the market. Currently, most of the passenger connectivity market is served by the original iteration of Gogo’s ATG service. But to further clarify, what system is deployed really depends on the market segment you are talking about. In the mid and heavy business jet category – Falcons, Challengers, Gulfstreams – you are seeing a majority of these being equipped with broadband satellite connectivity. In the small business jet category, due to the inability of these aircraft to support tail mounted antennas, ATG and L-Band dominate. SMW: While we agree that ATG has significant advantages in terms of cost, speed and latency for domestically operating business jets vs. the current GEO stationary Ku-Band and Ka-Band services, the technology is changing rapidly. New low earth orbit constellations are in the planning stage and flat panel, electronically steered antennas that could be placed on aircraft are in their final stages of development. Assuming these constellations are launched, given the low latency, high speed and global coverage of these new services, do you believe that ATG will remain a viable technology and why? Yes is the short answer. I believe ATG is still viable. The “why” is a multiple part answer. I would start with simple economics. It still costs $500 million to build a satellite and put it into orbit. So, usage costs are almost certainly going to be greater than ATG. In terms of installation and operational cost, high speed ATG is definitely going to be magnitudes less expensive. At the end of the day, it’s about value. If LEOs are built and go into service, and they are able to deliver on the promise of low latency and high bandwidth economically, then they could be viable, but that’s a big “if.” Of course, the big issue is price. SmartSky hardware will be under $100,000 which is a fraction of a comparable satellite hardware, and operational cost is expected to be far below the $5,000 to $50,000 per month charged for satellite access. So, for the 80% of business jets that fly domestically, ATG is a clear winner. For the larger business jets, ATG could also be used in conjunction with satellite. By contracting for a minimal amount of Gigabytes per/month of satellite bandwidth for international flights in combination with much lower cost ATG services, aircraft could lower their overall cost of connectivity by switching to ATG when over the U.S. using a simple router installation. This is especially relevant when users quickly burn up their satellite usage allocation with streaming and would be faced with extremely high overage fees without the ability to switch to ATG. SMW: I understand the service will be commercially available in mid 2018. At that time, will you be able to offer coverage over the entire lower 48 states? Alan Goodnight: At launch in mid 2018, we will cover a majority of flight routes in the lower 48 states, and it will be specific to the majority of flight routes. The question then becomes what about 100% geographical coverage including areas like Montana and Wyoming and the Dakotas where only a very small percentage of business jet flights take place? We expect to cover those areas by 2019. Our road map does include Alaska and other areas of the world including Europe. We expect to bring the very best ATG solution to the market at the most economical price point. SMW: As securing Supplemental Type Certifications (STCs) is critical to achieving market penetration, can you tell us on which business aircraft certifications are complete? I understand you are nearing completion on the Cessna Citation Excel as of last August. What is your expectation for completion of additional 40 or so STCs required to cover most of the U.S. business jet market? Alan Goodnight: To cover the market, we will ultimately need STCs on over 30 types of business aircraft. We have FAA STC for the Citation Excel, and our STC partners - Duncan Aviation, Textron, Chicago Jet Group, Bombardier, etc. - are working on others. We are adding to this list, and you will soon see the addition of more partners on the OEM side. To be clear, our focus out of the gate is the mid to heavy jet segment. So, when we talk about the 30 or so STCs required, a good number of these would be the light jets i.e. the Mustangs, Citations, etc. However, in 2018, we expect to have enough STCs in place to cover 80% of the mid to heavy jet market. SMW: Regarding the aircraft antennas, we note a photo of two different types of SmartSky “blade” antennas displayed at AIX 2017. Why are there two types and what are the differences? Alan Goodnight: The FDQ which is the smaller bladed antenna shown in the photo is a full duplex quad, and it is a transmit and receive antenna. The longer antenna is a receive only antenna. The combination of the two antennas, which has been approved by the FCC, enables us to communicate with our ground towers even in the presence of significant terrestrial Wi-Fi noise. So, every aircraft gets both antennas. SMW: Is the tower antenna configuration different in high density vs. low density demand areas? Are there limitations to the number of aircraft you can handle in high density areas based on the number of antennas required? If not, could the network ultimately support commercial aircraft? Alan Goodnight: Here you are getting to the very heart of our technology – the ability to scale capacity where needed. Part of our "secret sauce" is that we are able to do channelization. Why is this important? In two to three years, when a lot more aircraft will be flying in the Northeast, we will be able to solve for that capacity by adding more towers and not self-interfere. What I mean by that is we can put another tower near an existing one through channelization and not drown out the other. That, along with not using beam forming, is why Gogo has not been able to solve the capacity problem. They simply cannot add more towers in a geographical location because of self-interference on their licensed spectrum. So, we have designed our network with that in mind. It already considers high density demand in preparation for significantly greater traffic in business and ultimately, commercial aviation and allows us to add capacity without downgrading service. It also allows us to pursue entry into the commercial airline market. SMW: Given that you are using 60 MHz of unlicensed spectrum, can you give us an idea of how you will avoid interference from other devices operating in this spectrum range? If you need a weak signal on the down-link to avoid interference with ground based WiFi, how can you support applications that require a significant amount of bandwidth on the down-link i.e. video conferencing? Alan Goodnight: Our network architecture of beam forming has a very important role in this regard. Let me give you an example of how this works. If you can imagine the existing terrestrial applications – Wi-Fi and LTE - on the ground as similar to the huge number of people in a football stadium, all of these applications, like the large number of people in football stadium, are creating high levels of noise or in telecommunications terms, interference, which typically would make it difficult for you to hear someone speaking from the far end of the field. Now imagine a telecast sound technician at the far end of the field using a parabolic dish focusing on the person attempting to speak to you. The sound comes through clearly despite the background noise without impacting any of the noise generated within the crowd (in this case, the Wi-Fi or LTE transmissions). So, in the down-link example, the parabolic dish is the beam forming antenna on our transmission towers. So, we are using a very focused, high energy beam to hear what is being transmitted from the airplane despite all of the ground noise that is around us. By the way, this capability is part of our patent portfolio, and the approach has been fully endorsed by the FCC. So, when Gogo claims it can use the same approach, in our judgment, they haven’t begun to ask the question of how long and how much it would cost to get the regulatory bodies to approve another approach that does not infringe on our patents. It took us years and tens of millions of dollars to win regulatory approval, up-link and down-link, for this approach. SMW: How do uplink and downlink speeds compare? What speeds are typical? Alan Goodnight: Just like terrestrial networks speeds vary. We are focused on what matters, user experience. Our network delivers multi Mbps in both directions. If you want to get into measures, though, the best ones are i) sub-100 millisecond latency and ii) bi-directional, multi-GB/hour data rates. We believe consistency in these two elements is key. SMW: Gogo claims they have an advantage due to their ability to combine their 3 MHz of licensed spectrum with unlicensed spectrum. Is there any advantage in this? Alan Goodnight: We don’t see how that equates to a better user experience. When you talk about combining the two that can only be really complicated. It has to be because you are talking about two different styles of technology, one licensed and one unlicensed. You have to ask the question, how does that work? Essentially, you would have to switch between two dissimilar networks. Th e approach is cumbersome at best, and we are not at all satisfied that it would work or how it would positively impact the user experience. In fact, their 3 MHz network has already proven to be extremely slow, especially in congested areas. So, if you switch from a high speed unlicensed network when it is not available to a low speed 3 MHz network, users would experience a highly disruptive decrease in performance, especially if they are in the middle of a video conference. In addition, in combining the networks, you take what we are doing in principle,which is to dedicate a beam to each aircraft and attempt to do the exact same thing and when you add the idea of combining two types of spectrum to the concept of employing a highly complex set of technologies in which you track individual aircraft providing narrow, dedicated beams to each and account for varying speeds of Doppler shifts, seamless handover and things of that nature which Gogo does not do today, and they say they are going to do it with licensed and unlicensed spectrum combined, it strikes us as extremely frustrating to the user, much like switching between 4G LTE and 3G networks annoys people when using their smartphones on the ground. SMW: I understand that through patents, SmartSky claims to be well protected from Gogo’s effort to compete with a similar unlicensed service, and Gogo claims that they can do it without patent infringement. Can you comment further? Alan Goodnight: The issue continues to be unresolved. Frankly, until Gogo deploys a solution that uses the unlicensed spectrum band, it is difficult to know with certainty which of our many broad patents they might need. For example, if Gogo is using seamless, uninterrupted handovers from site to site (i.e. the user's Internet session is maintained), that would likely be covered by our patents. In other words, what we are saying based on everything Gogo has said in public, is that we cannot fathom how they can deploy a copycat network and not need access to our patent portfolio. SMW: I understand that satellite Internet installation on a large business jet can cost as much as $500,000, and monthly usage can range from $8,000 to $50,000 per/month. I understand that equipment cost for your ATG is around $93,000 plus installation and service cost is around $2,500 for 5 Gigabytes and $4,500 for 25 Gigabytes per month? Are those figures still accurate, and will the equipment cost limit opportunity on the smaller business jets? Why does it cost so much more to put this technology on a business jet than a commercial jet? Alan Goodnight: These figures are still accurate. In terms of installation, it is much more expensive to install satellite on a business jet because business jets, unlike commercial jets, are not built to be taken apart for maintenance purposes. In terms of monthly operational costs, these remain high since the business jet population is small and very finite. Unlike terrestrial broadband demand which is growing rapidly, business jet bandwidth suppliers cannot benefit from a growing market. So, economies of scale don’t exist in the business jet market, and monthly service costs tend to be higher. SMW: Beyond simply providing Internet connectivity and voice communication to business jet passengers, can you give us an idea of how your connectivity can be employed to improve business jet inflight operations? Alan Goodnight: We see a tremendously bright future in getting data off aircraft, not just passenger data, but real-time engine diagnostics, for example. Our network is going to enable companies like Rolls Royce and GE to enable these things that they have never been able to do before. For pilots, We also have a new framework coming out called Skytelligence. With it, they will be able to obtain real-time, optimized flight path recommendations for various scenarios such as best time or best fuel burn, and avoid dynamic disruptions like weather or temporary flight restrictions. Think of it like waze or Google Maps, but for aviation rather than for driving your car. As you can see, We are going to move very quickly from passenger to cockpit connectivity and the Internet of Things. SMW: Alan, thanks for really getting into the details on so many highly relevant issues. Given the complexity of what SmartSky is doing, I think your explanations will shed a lot of light on the uniqueness and complexity of the technological challenges involved.
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"To be clear, our focus out of the gate is the mid to heavy jet segment. So, when we talk about the 30 or so STCs required, a good number of these would be the light jets i.e. the Mustangs, Citations, etc. However, in 2018, we expect to have enough STCs in place to cover 80% of the mid to heavy jet market."
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About Alan Goodnight: Alan is one of the original team members at SmartSky. In addition to his role at SmartSky Alan is also actively involved with the National Institute for Aviation Research at Wichita State University. His prior experience includes senior roles at Cessna Aircraft as well as multiple industry committee’s including NASA’s AGATE and NBAA’s subcommittee on connectivity.Alan is Vice President of of Aviation at SmartSky Networks. Prior to joining SmartSky, Alan worked as an independent consultant, providing turnaround, financial and business development solutions to leading companies both large and small. creation. His most current projects have focused on aviation and aerospace where he fulfilled key roles in the commercialization of early-stage technology; including CFO, organizational development and marketing. In 2000 Alan founded one of the nation’s first on-line research firms, Quantum. Within 24 months, Alan added many Fortune-500 clients and grew revenues from zero to nearly $5MM. Alan holds a BA from the Wichita State University in Marketing and Communication with minor in Computer Science and Mathematics and an MBA from Tampa College.
There are many mobility related satellite industry events and unless you have an unlimited budget, here are the "must attends" and others that may be of interest. Note that the "hot" sectors are Cruise, Aero and Yachts. Upcoming Conferences: *****Seatrade Cruise Global, 5-8 March 2018, Fort Lauderdale, Florida: In terms of bandwidth demand, this mobility segment tops all but the commercial airline sector. In 2017, Gottlieb International Group presented a special seminar along with Global Eagle Entertainment, and we will be doing a repeat in 2018 - highly recommended and inexpensive. *****Satellite 2018, Washington, D.C. March 12-15, 2018: This is the most widely attended satellite show in the world and includes an excellent conference. However, attendees need to plan their agendas very carefully to avoid conflicts between meetings, sessions you want to attend and visits to selected booths on the show floor. It's definitely a jam packed four days. ***Posidonia, Athens Greece, June 4-8th, 2018: This is a key show due to the Greek shipping industry's leading position in the Tanker industry - the leading cargo maritime sector in terms of VSAT purchases. *****Global Connected Aircraft Summit, San Diego, CA June 4-6, 2018: In our opinion, this is the best event dealing with aircraft connectivity. As the commercial airlines struggle to upgrade and install Wi-Fi aboard their aircraft, the demand for bandwidth and associated Internet applications for both passenger entertainment and monitoring of aircraft systems is the prime focus. As the industry is also a leader in the use of IoT and M2M applications, what can be learned at this conference has applicability in other mobility sectors as well. ***CommunicAsia: June 26-28 2018: This is probably the best Asian satellite industry event. While not heavily focused on mobility, we recommend it for the excellent industry networking opportunities - expensive but well worth it. ***** World Satellite Business Week : September 2018: Notably the best conference for networking among top industry executives. A "must attend" with an excellent program. The 2017 conference was excellent. We attended the "Smart Plane" session and found it especially interesting. ***** 32nd Annual Small Satellite Conference August 4-9 2018, Logan Utah: This is the premier conference on small satellites and is highly recommended. Given the tremendous interest in this segment, the conference is a must attend: During the Conference, speakers will explore the new technologies, design methods, processes, operational constructs, and activities that inform and secure the success of small satellite missions. Other Conferences/Shows of Interest: ***Digital Ship CIO Forum/Cyber Resilience Forum: Held in numerous locations around the world, these events are notable for their focus mainly on IT related issues including cyber security, IoT and M2M. Sponsored globally by Marlink, they are held nearly everywhere. As the maritime cargo sector is in a major slump, the shipping people who attend these events are not in a buying mood. These events are probably worth attending at least once for their IOT, M2M and Cyber Security content - if you have the budget and the time. If you are interested in finding buyers, focus on the Tanker sector and attend Posidonia.
Upcoming and Recommended Satellite Mobility Related Events
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