The Dish

Podcast: Tracking orbital path key to satellite mission success

As space becomes increasingly crowded and space missions become more ambitious, the ability to track an asset in orbit is critical.  Orbit determination, defined as the estimation of an object’s orbit in space [https://connectivitybusiness.com/news/park-your-satellite-here-avoiding-orbital-collisions/], 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 [https://connectivitybusiness.com/news/podcast-how-ansys-is-looking-to-salvage-data-in-space/], 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.

Podcast: Connectivity critical part of life-saving missions

For the over 5.2 million people who lost cellular service with hurricanes Helene and Milton, satellite connectivity provided a lifeline as Speedcast deployed more than 200 Starlink kits to crisis response teams in Florida and North Carolina.  The connectivity provider accomplished this through a partnership with SpaceX [https://connectivitybusiness.com/news/strategy-markets/starlink-unveils-portable-antennas-as-latest-revenue-stream/], Will Mudge, executive vice president and chief technology officer at Houston-based Speedcast [https://connectivitybusiness.com/news/investments/speedcast-extends-connectivity-agreement-with-cruise-ships/], tells Connectivity Business News in this episode of “The Dish” podcast.  The economic cost of h [https://share.transistor.fm/s/ebacbfd7]urricanes 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 [https://connectivitybusiness.com/news/satellites-and-disasters-an-insiders-view-from-the-ground-and-space/] 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.

Podcast: Direct-to-device a ‘gold rush’ for space industry

Ubiquitous connectivity demand is spurring competition among satellite operators and leading to increased network complexity and new capabilities like direct-to-device.   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 [https://connectivitybusiness.com/news/strategy-markets/ast-spacemobile-rocket-lab-revenues-jump-in-q3/] to develop landing station basebands for Telesat’s planned Lightspeed low Earth orbit (LEO) megaconstellation [https://share.transistor.fm/s/eb2e8aa0].  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 [https://connectivitybusiness.com/news/investments/the-need-for-speed-data-demand-drives-satellite-tech-funding/] 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 [https://connectivitybusiness.com/news/strategy-markets/starlink-kuiper-good-for-the-market/].  The emerging satellite direct-to-device (D2D) market [https://connectivitybusiness.com/news/strategy-markets/d2d-investment-could-be-theme-in-2025/] 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.

Podcast: Regulations can determine ‘winners and losers’

The satellite industry is marked by innovation and understanding the regulatory environment is a plus for connectivity providers.  “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 [https://connectivitybusiness.com/news/strategy-markets/webinar-2025-called-moment-of-truth-for-space-industry/] 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 [https://connectivitybusiness.com/news/investments/webinar-ma-healthy-for-space-ecosystem/]among connectivity providers, particularly in emerging markets such as satellite direct-to-device [https://connectivitybusiness.com/news/strategy-markets/satellite-direct-to-device-encourages-collaboration-innovation/].   “Spectrum is prime real estate [https://connectivitybusiness.com/news/government-legal/spectrum-shortage-prompts-action-from-us-government/]. 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 [https://connectivitybusiness.com/news/strategy-markets/network-providers-look-to-optimize-spectrum/] 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.

Satcube looks to disrupt antenna market with portable terminals

As the constellations in low Earth orbit expand, the antennas that support these next-generation networks are becoming more compact.  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 [https://connectivitybusiness.com/news/satcube-wins-intelsat-order-for-100-terminals/], tells Connectivity Business News in the latest episode of “The Dish” podcast.  Nystrom credits SpaceX [https://connectivitybusiness.com/news/spacex-achieves-4-launches-in-one-week/] 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 [https://connectivitybusiness.com/news/satellites/leo-surge-calls-for-industry-collaboration/] 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 [https://connectivitybusiness.com/news/strategy-markets/flat-panel-antenna-market-predicted-to-reach-17b/] 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 [https://connectivitybusiness.com/news/strategy-markets/lack-of-standards-stymies-flat-panel-antenna-market/], 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 [https://hubs.la/Q02PSxWL0].