Satellite Evolution Global - May 2022 by satelliteevolution

May 2022

www.satellite-evolution.com | May 2022

#LatinAmerica #China #SpaceStation #IoT #DisasterRecovery

Crispin Littlehales, Global Contributing Editor

China is the third-largest space power in the world today. On April 16, the country’s Shenzhou 13 crew—Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping, and Ye Guangfu—landed safely after spending 182 days aboard the Tiangong space station’s core module, Tianhe. The mission included the first spacewalk performed by a Chinese woman as well as 20 plus scientific experiments. China plans to add a second and third module to its space station in July and October, respectively. Next year, China expects to launch the Xuntian space telescope which will coorbit with Taingong and dock to the space station periodically for refueling and maintenance. Hao Chun, Director of the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO) reports that the space station could eventually be expanded to six modules and that a reusable next-generation launch vehicle and crew spacecraft capably of ferrying seven astronauts are also in the making. When asked about international cooperation, Hao commented, “China will certainly carry out more in-depth exchanges and cooperation with all countries in the world committed to the peaceful use of outer space.” Cooperation is also at the heart of an agreement forged between NASA and the Government of Japan for the lunar Gateway, an orbiting outpost that will serve as a rendezvous point for astronauts traveling aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft prior to landing on the Moon. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will contribute I-Hab’s environmental control and life support system, batteries, thermal control, and imagery components—all of which will be incorporated into the module by the European Space Agency (ESA), prior to launch. According to Gateway Program Manager, Dan Hartman, “With the life support systems from Japan, longer duration missions for the Artemis crews can be accomplished with reduced demands on logistics resupply.” India has set its sights on the Moon as well and is working on the Chandrayaan 3 lunar lander. S. Somanath, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) says teams are testing the vehicle to protect against any problems with landing. India’s previous lunar lander suffered a loss of control over the thrust of the spacecraft. ISRO’s Gaganyaan, the country’s first crewed mission, is also undergoing rigorous testing of the mission-abort sequences in August and December. Test flights are currently slated for 2023 if all goes well with the abort tests, and India expects to launch astronauts no earlier than 2024. The May issue of Satellite Evolution Global looks not only toward the Land of the Rising Sun but also to Latin America. Assistant editor, Laurence Russell, speaks with Chris Blackerby, COO for Astroscale, to discuss its role in the deorbiting economy. Russell interviews Mark Rocket, CEO and Company Director Kea Aerospace to find out more about the High-Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (HAPS) craft that it uses to provide data and imaging for monitoring and disaster prevention. Finally, he catches up with Alvaro Alonso Ruiz, Co-Founder, and CCO Leanspace, to learn about its software-as-a-service platform for space organisations. We also check in with Kacific CEO, Christian Patouraux, who provides an intimate overview of how his company evolved to provide life-saving connectivity to underserved areas. In addition, we speak with Hughes, Andesat, and Gilat about the ways in which they have gone about providing internet access to some of the wildest and most remote regions in Latin America. John Geasa, Senior Director, IoT Products and Services at Speedcast, tells us about the growing potential of IoT technology; plus Andy Chambers, Director of Industrials at Edison Group, shares his insights on investing in the transforming space sector. Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The future depends on what you do today.” Our industry hears you loud and clear. www.satellite-evolution.com | May 2022

Photo courtesy Astroscale

Asian Ingenuity

Editorial

#Leanspace #Kacific #Speedcast #Astroscale #KeaAerospace

Regulars

Editorial Contents

Executive Q&As

Satellite News & Analysis

Alvaro Alonso Ruiz, Co-Founder & CCO, Leanspace

Investment & Growth Indicators

Chris Blackerby, Chief Operating Officer, Astroscale 22

Executive Movers & Shakers

Mark Rocket, Chief Executive Officer & Company Director, Kea Aerospace

Christian Patouraux, CEO, Kacific

Features & Market Reports Three approaches to bridging the Digital Divide in Latin America 16 Revolutionizing remote sites around the world with IoT

Satellite Evolution Global - May 2022 - Volume 1. No. 5.... ISSN: 2755-1326 No part of this publication may be transmitted, reproduced or electronically stored without the written permission from the publisher. DS Air Publications does not give any warranty as to the content of the material appearing in the magazine, its accuracy, timeliness or fitness for any particular purpose. DS Air Publications disclaims all responsibility for any damages or losses in the use and dissemination of the information. All editorial contents Copyright © 2022 | DS Air Publications | All rights reserved DS Air Publications 1 Langhurstwood Road, Horsham, West Sussex, RH12 4QD, United Kingdom T: +44 1403 273973 | F: +44 1403 273972 | Email: admin@dsairpublications.com | www.satellite-evolution.com

Editor Amy Saunders amy.saunders@dsairpublications.com

Business Development Manager Belinda Bradford belinda@dsairpublications.com

Managing Director David Shortland david@dsairpublications.com

Assistant Editor Laurence Russell laurence@dsairpublications.com

Publisher Jill Durfee jill.durfee@dsairpublications.com

Circulation Manager Elizabeth George

Global Contributing Editor Crispin Littlehales crispin@dsairpublications.com

Publishing Director Richard Hooper richard@dsairpublications.com

Production production@dsairpublications.com

www.satellite-evolution.com | May 2022

#TerranOrbital #OneWeb #Telefonica #CENTAURI-5

Satellite News & Analysis

Terran Orbital ships Fleet Space CENTAURI-5 satellite to Cape Canaveral

from CENTAURI-5 will not only lead to technological innovations but also increased quality of life for people around the world.” “CENTAURI-5, our new 3D printed all-metal patch antenna satellite, will not only provide digital beamforming in S-band frequency but will revolutionize the New Space Industry,” said Fleet Space Technologies CEO Flavia Tata Nardini. “We are extremely excited to launch this satellite in partnership with Terran Orbital and SpaceX. CENTAURI5 will be the 7th satellite of our planned constellation, with another four launches upcoming. We build, we launch, and we deliver upon our promises to keep growing our satellite constellation and deliver connectivity to our customers across the globe.”

Terran Orbital Corporation, a global leader in satellite solutions, primarily serving the United States aerospace and defense industry, has shipped its CENTAURI-5 satellite to Cape Canaveral in preparation for the SpaceX Transporter-5 launch. The CENTAURI-5 spacecraft is part of a constellation commissioned by Fleet Space Technologies to deliver global connectivity solutions specifically designed for the energy, utilities, and resource industries. Tyvak International, a Terran Orbital Corporation, designed and developed the spacecraft. Fleet Space is providing the payload that consists of the world’s first 3D printed allmetal patch antenna array combined with Digital Beamforming in S-Band frequency. The spacecraft is based on a Trestles platform. CENTAURI-5 implements new antenna technologies that maximize the capabilities of nanosatellites in Low Earth Orbit. Launching large batches of small satellites drives down connectivity costs for customers while improving coverage and network resilience in areas in high need of satellite communication. The Centauri satellites are built to the 6U CubeSat form factor. They weigh less than 10 kg and are the size of a shoebox. “Terran Orbital is ecstatic to provide innovative satellite solutions that make revolutionary constellations like Fleet Space possible,” said Terran Orbital Co-Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer Marc Bell. “Our engineer’s work day in and day out to fine-tune life-changing and lifesaving missions. The energy, utility, and resource data gathered

Photo courtesy Terran Orbital

www.satellite-evolution.com | May 2022

OneWeb and Telefónica collaborate to extend connectivity across Europe and Latin America OneWeb and Telefonica through, Telefónica Global Solutions (TGS), the subsidiary of global telecommunications company Telefónica that manages the international Wholesale, Global Roaming, Multinationals and USA businesses, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to improve connectivity services across Europe and Latin America. The collaboration arrangement between OneWeb and TGS comes as the need to expand modern, digital infrastructure has become a priority for governments, businesses and communities across Europe and Latin America. OneWeb’s efficient, high-performance Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite service will complement Telefónica’s existing offering in Europe and Latin America, enabling Telefónica to reach remote regions that they have not previously been able to serve. TGS will offer its expertise to promote and supply OneWeb’s low latency cellular backhaul services that can be deployed to help improve existing backhaul and support network upgrades to 4G/ 5G, while also providing backhaul backup for critical sites and infill capacity for special events. Where backhaul does not currently exist, OneWeb’s service will help expand Telefónica’s mobile coverage and extend enterprise connectivity. The combination of TGS and OneWeb services will ultimately increase user satisfaction and enable new applications and OTT services, in addition to supporting the expansion of mobile connectivity to users globally. SMEs will be able to use the OneWeb/TGS LEO satellite solution to support and extend their enterprise networks, while large organizations - including governments, telcos, and ISPs - in rural and remote parts of Europe and Latin America will also benefit from the combination of Telefónica’s fibre network and OneWeb’s low-latency broadband service. OneWeb’s Chief Executive Officer, Neil Masterson, said “This arrangement is fantastic news for communities across Europe and Latin America, who will benefit from better and enhanced network coverage. OneWeb believes that our

Satellite News & Analysis

#CRP #AlbaOrbital #RocketLab

unique network has a crucial role to play in providing connectivity for the hardest-to-reach areas globally, so we look forward to working with Telefónica to deliver enhanced internet performance and availability to customers.” Julio Beamonte, Chief Executive Officer at Telefónica Global Solutions commented “Our goal is to empower our customers’ businesses by connecting them to the world through innovative broadband solutions. By partnering with OneWeb, we can augment our portfolio by offering solutions that require low latency. Our experience will be essential when adapting the OneWeb solution to provide corporate, B2B and cellular backhaul services and help fuel adoption of critical business applications in the hardestto-connect areas. We are focused on helping our B2B and Wholesale customers to drive transformational change in their business, and we believe our partnership with OneWeb will help us do that.” Telefónica Global Solutions offers an ecosystem of comprehensive satellite solutions for different applications and industries, adapting to connectivity needs with the highest quality guarantees to bring communications to the most challenging environments (with connectivity deficits or rural areas) and to address specific and/or temporary situations such as events and emergencies.

CRP-built Alba Orbital 3D-printed deploying system for ultimate nanosatellites tested by Rocket Lab The second Alba Orbital’s launch of 2022, ‘Alba Cluster X’, has occurred from Pad A at Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula. As part of the Rocket Lab’s “There and Back Again” mission that comprised 34 satellites to a sun synchronous orbit, the Alba Orbital launch consisted in the deployment of 4 PocketQube satellites out of the 34, using Alba’s advanced 3D printed system “AlbaPod v2”. It was manufactured by CRP Technology using Carbon fiber reinforced Windform XT 2.0 composite material and industrial 3D printing with Laser Powder Bed Fusion. Specifically, the 3D printing technology used is Selective Laser Sintering, which CRP Technology has helped to improve with the creation and use of Windform materials. The satellites on board the Alba Cluster X flight were Alba’s Unicorn-2F and three 1p PocketQubes on behalf of ACME AtronOmatic / MyRadar, who plan to launch a 250satellite weather data constellation. Unicorn-2 carries an optical night-time imaging payload designed to monitor light pollution across the globe. “Night Lights” data (the Night-time satellite imagery) provide crucial insights into human activities, enabling a host of For further information on how to place your news in Satellite Evolution Global - please contact the Global Contributing Editor - crispin@dsairpublications.com

www.satellite-evolution.com | May 2022

Satellite News & Analysis

Alba Orbital’s 3D printed deployer during the attachment to the kick stage of Rocket Labs Electron rocket for launch. Photo courtesy of Alba Orbital

applications such as monitoring light pollution, evaluating armed conflicts and disasters, empowering maritime surveillance, validating sustainable satellite tech. Unicorn2F phoned home on the first pass. All four PocketQubes were deployed to a 500 km circular orbit by Electron’s Kick Stage, a nimble spacecraft that provides in-space propulsion and maneuvering capability to ensure each satellite is deployed to a precise and unique orbit defined by the customer. This one was also a recovery mission where, for the first time, Rocket Lab attempted a mid-air capture of Electron’s first stage as it returned from space using parachutes and a helicopter. The successful catch brings Electron one step closer to being the first reusable orbital small sat launcher.

Orbex reveals first full-scale microlauncher rocket developed in Europe Orbex has unveiled the first full-scale prototype of the Prime orbital space rocket on its dedicated launch pad publicly for the first time. The unveiling of the first of a new generation of European launch vehicles - designed to launch a new category of very small satellites to orbit - represents a major step forward for the British rocket company as it prepares for the first ever vertical rocket launch to orbit from UK soil. Orbex´s Prime rocket is the first ‘microlauncher’ developed in Europe to reach this stage of technical readiness. 8

www.satellite-evolution.com | May 2022

With the first full integration of the Orbex rocket on a launch pad now complete, the company is able to enter a period of integrated testing, allowing dress rehearsals of rocket launches and the development and optimization of launch procedures. Orbex recently revealed their first test launch platform at a new test facility in Kinloss, a few miles from the company’s headquarters at Forres in Moray, Scotland. Prime is a 19-metre long, two-stage rocket that is powered by seven engines, that is being designed and manufactured in the UK and Denmark. The six rocket engines on the first stage of the rocket will propel the vehicle through the atmosphere to an altitude of around 80km. The single engine on the second stage of the rocket will complete the journey to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), allowing the release of its payload of small, commercial satellites into Earth’s orbit. Uniquely, Orbex Prime is powered by a renewable biofuel, bio-propane, supplied by Calor UK. This fuel allows the rocket to reduce carbon emissions significantly compared to other similarly sized rockets being developed elsewhere around the world. A study by the University of Exeter showed that a single launch of the Orbex Prime rocket will produce 96 per cent lower carbon emissions than comparable space launch systems using fossil fuels. Prime is also a re-usable rocket which has been engineered to leave zero debris on Earth and in orbit. Josef Aschbacher, Director General, European Space Agency (ESA): “I am deeply impressed with the speed at which the Orbex Prime rocket was developed. It is the first full orbital micro-launcher in Europe. But I am equally impressed by the low-carbon footprint technology applied. My sincere congratulations to the whole Orbex team for this impressive achievement.” Orbex Prime will launch from Space Hub Sutherland, a new spaceport being constructed on the North Coast of Scotland. Space Hub Sutherland was the first vertical spaceport to receive planning permission in the UK and will be the first European spaceport brought into operation later in 2022. It is also the first and only spaceport worldwide that has committed to being carbon-neutral, both in its construction and operation. Ian Annett, Deputy CEO of the UK Space Agency: “We are on the cusp of an historic moment, with Orbex playing a leading role in generating a brand-new launch capability in the UK, while creating opportunities for people and businesses across the country. I can’t wait to see Prime lift off from Space Hub Sutherland.” UK Science Minister George Freeman: “This is a hugely exciting time for the UK space and satellite sector as we count down to the first satellite launches from UK spaceports. Orbex Prime is a remarkable feat of engineering from a British rocket company, pioneering more sustainable and innovative fuels that cut carbon emissions. It is also fantastic to see Moray-based Orbex creating more high-quality jobs, demonstrating the value of our thriving space sector to support emerging clusters of innovation to help level up the whole of the UK.” The market for small satellites is increasing rapidly, as a wide range of new small satellite constellations are developed and deployed. Micro-launchers such as Orbex

#Singtel #iSHIP #Maritime

Photo courtesy Orbex

Prime give satellite manufacturers a dedicated launch service, in contrast to larger, ‘rideshare’ launchers, where small satellites are an often a secondary payload, and frequently face significant delays. Chris Larmour, CEO, Orbex: “This is a major milestone for Orbex and highlights just how far along our development path we now are. From the outside, it might look like an ordinary rocket, but on the inside, Prime is unlike anything else. To deliver the performance and environmental sustainability we wanted from a 21st century rocket we had to innovate in a wide number of areas – low-carbon fuels, fully 3D-printed rocket engines, very lightweight fuel tanks, and a novel, low-mass reusability technology.”

challenges and provide a versatile solution for shipping companies that are accelerating digital adoption and also have decarbonisation and crew welfare high on their agenda. By making it easier for ship owners and operators to procure and steward digital services and resources, they can focus on keeping the world economy running, supporting billions of people who rely on our seas for food, energy and transport,” said Mr Ooi Seng Keat, Vice President, Carrier Services, Over-the-Top & Satellite, Group Enterprise, Singtel. Singtel is the only operator in Southeast Asia to attain the highest certification from the World Teleport Association, for providing customers with the highest quality of security, infrastructure and operational standards for their communications needs. With the launch of iSHIP, Singtel continues leading the industry in providing connectivity support and more for the hundreds of customers and their thousands of vessels sailing the seas at any given time.

Singtel launches iSHIP, industry’s first all-in-one maritime service Singtel has unveiled iSHIP, an all-in-one platform providing critical satellite-enabled connectivity and digital services for the maritime industry. iSHIP’s integrated services for crew and fleet management gives ship managers and owners greater flexibility and visibility of their resources and operations, enabling better crew wellbeing, vessel safety and operational efficiency. Presently, nearly 90 percent of all goods from finished products to food, fuel and more are shipped over the seas, with maritime trade volume set to triple by 2050. To keep ships running and global seaborne trade flowing during the pandemic, shipping companies had to rapidly digitalize critical operations such as navigation, power supply, engine control and cargo management that were traditionally manual tasks while ensuring ship crews stay health and safe. “Our seas are a major mode of global trade and transport. But the pandemic has disrupted global supply chains and shipping operations, driving strained crews, who are more accustomed to traditional or manual processing methods, to navigate fragmented digital resources and applications. iSHIP was specifically designed to address these www.satellite-evolution.com | May 2022

#Equity #NewSpace #LEO #DataConnectivity

The transforming space sector - a new frontier of investment Andy Chambers, Director of Industrials at Edison Group Equity investment in space reached another record level in 2021 and with the global space economy forecast to grow rapidly, potentially trebling in size to more than US$1 trillion by 2030, there is a vast and growing array of potential investment opportunities. Not all of these are going to succeed, but with satellite deployments increasing sharply and space-based data demand rising inexorably, those that do well could deliver an exciting ride.

NEW SPACE ECONOMY DRIVING GROWTH

Over the last 25 years, the NewSpace economy has been planning a revolution in space. The plans are now being enacted with commercial operators launching crewed spaceflights and an increasing number of satellites, primarily into Low Earth Orbit (LEO). A data-hungry world is seeking space services to address issues such as connectivity, communications, security, climate change, resource management and disaster response. The traditional backbone of data transmission has been the Geostationary Equatorial Orbit (GEO) satellite networks with long lead times, extended service lives, high cost and persistent high capacity. Their position is now being challenged as the growth in data and connectivity demand has driven the New Space segment to develop cheaper access for customers. The launch segment has reduced cost per kg to around US$1,000 for payloads, while the capital cost of LEO small satellite networks has fallen with increasing payload capabilities as technology develops for sensors, controls, power, and propulsion. With only around 4,000 satellites in operation today – and potentially 100,000 to be launched over the next decade – growth should accelerate.

Investment & Growth Indicators carried out by parts of large global aerospace and defense corporations who have interests in specific space segments (e.g., satellites or launch systems) but generally these account for a relatively small proportion of their revenues. Airbus, Boeing, L3Harris, Leonardo, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Safran, Thales and many others all have some exposure. Launch activity was limited to a few major players such as Arianespace and ULA as well as ventures that are owned by larger corporations. Satellite service opportunities were also limited to several quoted incumbent satellite services providers such as Eutelsat, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Iridium Communications, SES, and Viasat, primarily operating in GEO and MEO. In addition, a limited number of listed direct space plays such as satellite builder OHB SE, and launch engine producer, Avio. These have been joined by a few listed NewSpace entities such as AAC Clyde Space, Creotech Instruments, Gomspace, and Mynaric. There has been an acceleration in the US as companies opted for SPAC (special purpose acquisition companies) listings. To date, 13 companies have been listed on the NYSE and Nasdaq markets using SPAC partners since Virgin Galactic in October 2019. D-Orbit is expected to increase the total to 14 during the summer.

NEW SPACE, NEW INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES

As the NewSpace businesses execute their strategies, the transition from planning to deployment requires funding and presents a key opportunity for investors looking to capitalize on entrepreneurialism within the sector. It is reflected in the progressive increase in the amount of equity investment in space infrastructure companies which reached a record of just under US$15 billion in 2021, up 50 percent from the prior year. Alongside the incumbent space service operators, major aerospace, and defense groups with space interests and several listed NewSpace companies, the choice of investment is increasing. The traditional space sector has been the preserve of large incumbent governmental, institutional, and commercial operators; therefore, the availability of pure space plays was limited. Most satellite technology development design and manufacturing activity was 10

www.satellite-evolution.com | May 2022

Photo courtesy CodedeatH33/Shutterstock

Investment & Growth Indicators SORTING THE SPACE DEBRIS FROM THE STARS

However, with the increasing array of companies to invest in, the challenge is to identify the opportunities to participate profitably. An alternative is to look at specialist investment funds that qualify and select potential investments. There are a number of space-related exchange-traded funds (ETFs), such as SPDR S&P Kensho Final Frontiers ETF, Procure Space ETF, and ARK Space Exploration and Innovation ETF. However, it is important to qualify the underlying investment entities, which in some cases are not necessarily as directly space related as may be desired. An interesting new addition is Seraphim Space Investment Trust, which was listed in London in September 2021 and has so far invested UK£170 million in 23 opportunities, after considering a huge number and variety of NewSpace companies. Others may follow. The opportunity is clear, and while the incumbent operators are challenged, they are also involved in the new developments. However, the number and variety of NewSpace business models are substantial and cover all aspects of space missions, from design, development, and manufacture of spacecraft (including satellites) and their subsystems, through launch, deployment, operation, and data handling. The space-related SPAC listings reflect a variety of ambitions and technologies. There are potentially several thousand other private companies seeking a flight path to commercial success. Some companies are advancing rapidly such as SpaceX, OneWeb, ABL Space Systems, Astroscale, Exos Aerospace, and York Space Systems. We can expect many more as nations around the globe seek to deploy their own scientific and technological expertise to create a national space presence. Ultimately some will go public, but of course, there is also a possibility that the larger aerospace and defense corporations could buy them if the business model provides a compelling financial case. Raytheon’s acquisition of Blue Canyon Technologies, a provider of turnkey small satellite solutions, for a reported US $350 million in December 2020 is an example of such a move. At this stage, clear winners are hard to identify as the recent performances of the SPAC listings suggest. Those that do succeed should

#SpaceDebris #GeopoliticalTensions #Operators provide an exciting ride, but investors should pick their space vehicle with care.

GEOPOLITICAL TENSIONS COULD DISRUPT GROWTH

Of course, equity investment comes with risk, and space is not a straightforward environment. The recent increase in geopolitical tensions has the potential to impact these growth plans. In recent decades space has been a relatively collaborative environment, especially on the commercial side. With at least one major nation involved in conflicts likely to face sanctions for some time, the benign operating environment could become more hostile. Some launches appear to have been disrupted already and greater operational obstacles could appear.

www.satellite-evolution.com | May 2022

Q&A Leanspace

Empowering the democratization of space markets Alvaro Alonso Ruiz, Co-Founder & CCO, Leanspace

Leanspace is a software-as-a-service platform that aims to lower barriers to entry for new players in the space economy by handling their upfront digital spending while allowing clients ownership of the toolsets that are custom-developed for their use-case. With so many providers promising one-stop-shop solutions, and cynicism from industry commentators, Alvaro Alonso Ruiz, Co-Founder & CCO explains how Leanspace circles the square to grow the NewSpace market.

Satellite Evolution Global

Laurence Russell, Assistant Editor, Satellite Evolution Group

Q&A 12

www.satellite-evolution.com | May 2022

Question: Leanspace works to help automate the design, construction, and use of space technology. How are they pursuing that, and what will be the advantages? Alvaro Alonso Ruiz: When space organizations need to design, test, or operate space assets, they build the whole software infrastructure from scratch. That means they are mixing different tools with different technologies and stitching them together with uncertain compatibilities and all sorts of data silos. What we’re offering is all software solutions connected into a seamless platform that covers the entire mission, so data can move across different tools, systems, and mission phases. To give you an example, we already have capabilities that translate from the design stage to the operational stage. Question: Digitization is another priority of yours and is sometimes considered synonymous with automation. How do these priorities

Leanspace works to help automate the design, construction, and use of space technology

www.satellite-evolution.com | May 2022

Q&A Leanspace

Leanspace was founded by an international team of space and cloud veterans

complement one another, and how can they be rolled out at a competitive timescale? Alvaro Alonso Ruiz: We understand digitization in the terms of giving organizations tools to leverage the cloud. This isn’t unique to space, of course, it’s an evergreen corporate tactic in the Industry 4.0 era, but certain particularities of the space industry have slowed the transition. It’s also important to classify that while migrating software to the cloud has advantages, that doesn’t make that software cloud native. We’re invested in bringing cloud nativity to every stage of a space mission. The power of the cloud is something primes like Amazon, Microsoft, or Google have been delivering on for a while now and are still developing for. Space is uniquely global, beyond the remote-working renaissance we’ve seen under the pandemic. Many different teams work together on space-based services, often with different software tools. These teams can often find themselves siloed by the distances between them, and the incompatibility of their disparate programs. It can look like a real mess in practice, more so than you would imagine. A seamless cloud-native platform ignores those barriers and creates a virtual space where engineers can collaborate efficiently, drawing from the same data. In technical terms, It’s what we call “a single source of truth”. This eliminates data duplicates and errors and ensures your teams are on the same page in a literal sense. Question: What are some examples of strong use cases Leanspace has delivered? What efforts are currently underway? Alvaro Alonso Ruiz: 80 percent of all software in space missions is the same. From satellite operators to launchers, to ground stations, and network management, the same data software is being applied. The 20 percent on top of that will be unique to the use case. What we’re doing is providing that 80 percent, and seamlessly bringing in that last 20 percent under one roof, which is unique for the industry. We have customers in space manufacturing, orbit 14

www.satellite-evolution.com | May 2022

servicing, and constellation operation. We even have software integrators who are building their own software products based on our technology. We’re interested in serving the whole industry with one software suite. In terms of what’s underway, we’re interested in bringing out software to launchers. There are all sorts of commercial off-the-shelf (CotS) solutions for mission control and mission planning, but launching is another story. Generally, spaceport operators are prioritizing the development of their own software solutions, produced from scratch, which brings a lot of trial and error into the already risky business of propelling millions of dollars of equipment into space with a giant rocket. By providing these operations with out-of-the-box software solutions, we can drastically reduce their time to market, reduce their risk factors once they’re there, and reduce their costs with digitized efficiencies. Question: Leanspace is also interested in lowering barriers to entry for emerging space companies to expand the Newspace economy. Why does collaborating help businesses compete in this sector? Alvaro Alonso Ruiz: Software in this space has typically been a program under a license model. That’s often a very big investment upfront, which is exactly what newcomers to the industry and startups don’t want. It strangles those smaller disruptive players, which ultimately hurts competition and innovation. We’re going with a pay-as-you-go model, which the space industry is gradually starting to realize is more conducive to economic stability. We intend to go one step further by allowing our partners to cherry-pick independent cloud products in our suite to build out more complex software capability, optimizing an agile, custom platform that fits their budget. This is perfect for startups, who aren’t paying the same flat costs as a prime would. When that same startup grows and has more sophisticated needs that require multiplying their software demand a few times over, we’re still the place for them because our platform can scale up to what services that client wants to expand into. By building our model around realistic and scaled consumption, we can serve companies of all sizes for the most holistic space market. Question: Europe is unique in the space economy, as it contains many independently disruptive markets capable of remarkable cooperation through ESA activities. What does the continent need to compete with the foremost space powers? Alvaro Alonso Ruiz: Europe certainly represents its own power in space under the collaborative umbrella of ESA. There were times when you could certainly argue that the continent was being dwarfed by the US and China, but since the NewSpace age, it’s a fair assessment to say that gap has narrowed. Leanspace is based in France, a comparable space power with many investments enabling growth for the space market, and fertile ground for startup disruption. We’ve seen similar things from neighbours, who all see the clear benefits to carving footholds in the space economy.

Q&A Leanspace There’s always room for improvement of course. One of the things I’d like to see is the government grant model being evolved into a government contract model, as has served the United States. When space developers have active contracts, it attracts more investor money, gives the company more experience developing projects, and keeps them operating as they’d like. This is precisely how SpaceX was able to grow as quickly as it did. With myriad contracts underway the company could focus on its productivity as it was being accelerated, allowing it to rapidly learn from its mistakes and possess a lot of expertise by the time it had scaled to NASA’s highest standards. Another thing I’d like to see is a greater appetite for risk in the space economy. Space economics is inherently risky because of the cosmic scale of what it involves, which is why businesses in this space are so risk-averse. The American model is an example of a greater capital risktolerance which then leads to stronger competition, greater disruption, and higher success. Of course, we can keep inflating market leaders with more cash because they have the best record, but this fosters a monopolistic ecosystem that is less competitive, and ultimately complacent.

#Leanspace #Software #NewSpace another, which constantly need to be maintained in-house in this day and age has never been less advisable, especially when you’re scaling up from small beginnings. This pitfall is what we call technical debt. Question: What can we expect from Leanspace in the coming years? Alvaro Alonso Ruiz: The space industry is undergoing a massive shift as space exploration evolves into space commercialization. The role Leanspace is going to play is to change the culture of digitalizing infrastructure. Software is taking over the planet whether we like it or not. Assets like satellites and rockets are being operated, optimized, tested, and de-risked by increasingly powerful software. Data is the language through which value is extracted from space. That means our job at Leanspace is to serve as an authority on the digitalization of the space industry, to make them more efficient, more automated, and more sustainable through the implementation of digital technologies.

Question: What do space enterprises need to disrupt, expand, and innovate, which is not popularly understood by the industry? Alvaro Alonso Ruiz: The one thing I’d say is that businesses need to stop aiming to reinvent the wheel over and over again. Companies should put their money where it makes the most difference and accept service-based efficiencies – the 80 percent in software demand that I mentioned earlier. Leanspace’s vertical platform does a lot of heavy lifting in that 80 percent, which represents a huge obstacle for many new interests in the space market and allows its clients to innovate on top of us. Building out software from scratch was the norm in recent memory, in the time of big space agency missions with massive budgets, which had no foundational tools or expertise, and had to create their operation from nothing. That period is now a thing of the past. In the world of space commercialization, the optimization of resources is everything. Software developers in other industries would never think to develop their own databases, their own office applications, their own operating systems, or for that matter, their own computers. They’d just purchase the software and hardware that everyone knows can do the job and focus on their specific service model. We’re trying to educate the industry on why this makes sense, and to avoid underestimating how disastrous a mix of incompatible technologies can be when it comes to such a challenging market as space. To choose to go down the rabbit holes of incompatible systems with limited automation, which don’t talk to one www.satellite-evolution.com | May 2022

LTE PoC retailer location. Photo courtesy Hughes

Three approaches to bridging the Digital Divide in Latin America

According to a 2020 study issued by the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), three in ten people across Latin America — some 244 million—have no internet. That number is now shrinking, thanks to the efforts of several satellite broadband internet service providers including Hughes, Andesat, and Gilat who are bringing connectivity to some of the wildest and most remote parts of the region. Crispin Littlehales, Global Contributing Editor, Satellite Evolution Group

t least half the people on this planet are so immersed in the digital world that they would be hard-pressed to survive without it. But the other half, around 3.5 billion humans, are either too poor or live too remotely to tap into all the things we now take for granted. When the pandemic erupted in 2020, this fact quickly manifested into a global problem that needed attention. While governments in Latin America pondered legislation, providers of satellite-enabled internet services acted. The biggest challenge for them was figuring out ways to deliver connectivity at a price that people in a small, isolated village could afford.

HUGHES EXPANDS WI-FI ACCESS TO COMMUNITY LTE

“We are really passionate about bringing connectivity into underserved areas,” says Bhanu Durvasula, Vice President, International Division at Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES). By putting a satellite terminal into a local “Mom 16

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and Pop” store and connecting a Wi-Fi access point, Hughes has been able to provide internet service at an affordable price. “Instead of paying US$50 or US$60 a month, people can buy hourly, daily, or weekly data packs and spend just a few dollars a month. It works for them, and it creates a business case for us,” Durvasula explains. Over the last couple of years, Hughes has deployed its Hughes Express community Wi-Fi equipment and services in more than 2,300 locations throughout Brazil, Chile, Peru, Columbia, and Mexico. The company has seen a lot of good traction from its initial endeavours. “People in these places now have access to the internet as well as communication with others and it is changing their lives,” notes Durvasula. However, the coverage that such Wi-Fi hot spots deliver is only about 70 to 100 meters. Several months ago, Hughes hatched a plan to expand that coverage and in February of this year, the company initiated a novel Community LTE pilot program that delivers service to five remote villages in Brazil. At each site, Hughes has integrated its JUPITER ™ high-throughput satellite capacity and equipment with an LTE small cell and an

#Hughes #Andesat #ANATEL

Bhanu Durvasula, Vice President, International Division at Hughes Network Systems

open-source network core that effectively creates a private LTE network covering approximately five square kilometres. To make this possible, Hughes applied to ANATEL (the Brazilian Telecommunications Agency) for a license to use a block of spectrum in 700-megahertz band 28 which the Brazilian government granted to Hughes until 2025. “The concept is still the same in that people purchase affordable data packs from a local retailer but now users are not restricted to that one hotspot. They can have access in their own home as well as the entire coverage areas, at all hours. We have an LTE base station that can connect to mobile devices along with fixed LTE Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) devices,” explains Durvasula. The LTE

CPE is a small box that goes into a person’s home. On one side, the device connects to the internet through LTE to the base station and the other side it provides Wi-Fi access. Hughes has been able to further reduce the cost of connectivity to remote locations by pushing a lot of the functions that are in the central site out to the edge. In these locations, the base station communicates with a compact, off-the-shelf compute node that hosts an opensource core network software. That core network resides at the edge and all the LTE overhead and protocols are handled locally at the site. Because it is a consumer-type satellite terminal there is no need for a higher-end satellite terminal to carry the internet IP traffic over the satellite link. That not only saves bandwidth over the space link but also lowers the equipment costs at the site. Having proven both the viability of the LTE setup and its cost-effectiveness, Hughes is reaching out to mobile network operators (MNOs) in the hopes of forming a winwin partnership. Durvasula notes, “MNOs are hesitant to put up cell towers in rural areas as these locations do not bring in the kind of revenues that they see in urban and suburban locations. However, in many cases, they are obligated to do so due to government policies for use of spectrum. This is where our community LTE offering can help, with Hughes providing local operational support and satellite backhaul with a spectrum-sharing and roaming arrangement with the MNO – all to help connect more people, more cost-effectively.”

ANDESAT CONNECTS THE MOST FORGOTTEN COMMUNITIES IN PERU Three mountain ranges and the Amazon rainforest make Peru one of the most rugged geographies on earth. Sixty percent of the country has no roads. Approximately eight

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Latin America

Pablo Rasore, Andesat’s Founder, and CEO

million people inhabit 16,000 tiny communities scattered throughout the region and, until recently, none of them had broadband internet access. Then, in 2018, the Peruvian government issued a regulation that allowed South American satellite service provider, Grupo Andesat, to file for a license as an infrastructure provider for rural communities. “We started integrating a solution that was costeffective for communities of between 500 and 1,000 residents,” states Pablo Rasore, Andesat’s Founder, and CEO. “Our ultimate aim was to go to the most forgotten places in Peru.” Andesat signed its first contract with Telefonica and deployment for rural communities was underway but in 2019, Intelsat’s IS-29e HTS geostationary communications satellite suffered a fuel leak and was declared a total loss. “We had practically 80 percent of our services over that satellite,” explains Rasore. “We had to stop everything and, to keep our customers, we had to make a very big investment in our teleports and provide services with alternative satellites. Then we had to migrate all the customers to those satellites. We lost nearly a whole year trying to reposition in this way. Then came the pandemic.” The project is now back on track. Andesat currently has 100 sites, and the company plans to have more than 400 by the end of the year. “Sometimes you have to travel for two or three days and cross several rivers by boat to get to these places, but to our great surprise when we arrived, everybody had a smartphone in their hands even though they didn’t have any connection,” says Rasore. “As soon as we deployed the service, the people were ready, and they consumed data at an amazing rate that surpassed our most optimistic projections.” The impact of having connectivity has been dramatic. “These communities were so far away that their production was being purchased by people who exploited them because the prices were whatever they wanted to pay,” Rasore explains. “Banks wanted to get into those areas to provide financial services and we are now making agreements with them to increase the Revenue per Site (ARPU). The same has happened with telemedicine and tele-education. As soon as we get sites connected, the users want more services, and they learn everything they need to know in a very short time.” The infrastructure is simple: a small tower, about the 18

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same size as the ones you see for streetlights, as well as a VSAT terminal and cellular equipment on top. Even this relatively lightweight equipment can present a challenge when crossing rivers and scaling rough terrain. “We have worked a lot on integrating the solution and making it as efficient as it can be so we can keep it affordable. A cellular company would probably spend four to six times what we spend. The customer pays for the service from a reseller or an MNO like Telefonica. We provide the transport and charge the MNO for that,” says Rasore. According to Rasore, his company Is adapting the solutions it pioneered for other businesses in Latin America to suit the newly connected communities which are primarily involved in agriculture, trout production, oil and gas, and mining. Andesat can provide the same kind of services and the same kind of IoT and software development for sensors and dashboards that these remote areas would need to improve not only their businesses but also their quality of life. “For us, what is just as important as the economic benefits is the social impact that connectivity enables,” he notes. “We’re already seeing the formation of mining cooperatives and improvements in education and healthcare.” Andesat has been purchasing capacity from Intelsat, Eutelsat, SES, and Telesat but demand is growing at such

Photo courtesy Hughes

www.satellite-evolution.com | May 2022

Latin America

Hispasat is using Gilat’s CBH technology to extend the service of Altan La Red Compartida. Photo courtesy Gilat

a rate that the company decided to purchase one of its own. In December 2021, Andesat announced a deal with satellite manufacturer, Astranis to build and operate a MicroGEO satellite. Andesat-1 is set for launch in 2023. Notably, the company is investing all the CapEx without assistance from the Peruvian government or MNOs. The plan is to continue using the services of all the satellites and let Andesat-1 handle the expansion. “After experiencing the loss of one satellite, we will never risk having a single source,” says Rasore. “However, having our own satellite will make us more competitive and will bring down the average cost of bandwidth.”

GILAT PROVIDES UBIQUITOUS ACCESS TO REMOTE COMMUNITIES IN MEXICO

In 2016, the UN General Assembly passed a non-binding resolution that “declared internet access a human right.” Mexico, among other countries, agreed to uphold the directive. In 2017, Hispasat, the Spanish satellite communications operator and leader in the distribution of content in Spanish and Portuguese selected satellitebased broadband communications provider, Gilat Satellite Networks to provide its SkyEdge II-c platform with its flagship VSAT Capricorn for their Amazonas 5 Ka-band satellite. This partnership has provided cellular backhaul (CBH) over satellite services in Mexico ever since. “Here at Gilat we believe that the need to bridge the digital divide is now stronger than ever before,” states Ernesto Preciado, Vice President North of Latin America for Gilat. “This has been compounded by the pandemic which has caused a significant rise in demand for connectivity and especially in the surge of demand on cellular networks. We see a record need for video streaming and bandwidth-hungry applications due to work and study from home, social distancing that is increasing the reliance on communication from home, as well as additional connectivity requirements to support more users.” According to a report published by Statista, approximately three out of ten people in Mexico still do 20

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not have access to the internet. Most of these individuals live in precarious and vulnerable situations in rural areas. Gilat, along with partners, Hispasat and AXESS, is providing CBH to Mexico’s leading MNOs. “We are bringing connectivity to remote regions where terrestrial systems such as fiber and microwave are not available,” notes Preciado. “Gilat’s platform also allows the mobile operator to use transportable VSATs for disaster recovery, thus ensuring connectivity anywhere in Mexico at all times.” Hispasat is using Gilat’s CBH technology to extend the service of Altan La Red Compartida, the shared telecommunications network. “Gilat’s platform provides a user experience like terrestrial technologies, using patented GTP acceleration, traffic optimization techniques, and excellent spectral efficiency. This enables MNOs to expand 4.5G LTE coverage to underserved areas so that people can enjoy high-quality mobile broadband voice and data services,” says Preciado. “SkyEdge II-c is also 5G ready and able to deliver new levels of satellite connectivity when applicable.” “As government attention is shifting from providing small, simple satellite connectivity to schools and other government points of presence to true broadband cellular coverage, we expect Gilat’s presence and market leadership to grow even more,” explains Preciado. “Gilat recently launched its next-generation platform, SkyEdge IV supporting multi-orbit constellations and very high throughput satellites. We are looking forward to deploying our platform with new satellites covering the region, such as the SES 17 which is expected to become operational next quarter.” Clearly, the digital divide is narrowing. In the next several years, life will change dramatically for millions of people who never dreamed of having the world at their fingertips.

Ernesto Preciado, Vice President North of Latin America for Gilat

www.satellite-evolution.com | May 2022

Q&A Astroscale

Astroscale stays on course for pioneering space sustainability

Chris Blackerby, Chief Operating Officer, Astroscale

Astroscale is a leading developer of several space sustainability technologies, including the ELSA-d experiment, which illustrated the successful location and de-orbit of a derelict object in Earth’s orbit. With expansion in mind, the company has recently obtained several grants from Japan and ESA and is now positioned to be a market leader in the deorbiting economy. Chris Blackerby, Chief Operating Officer, explains the company’s progress.

Satellite Evolution Global

Laurence Russell, Assistant Editor, Satellite Evolution Group

Q&A 22

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Question: In March you announced that you were selected by ESA to receive an €800,000 contract to boost collision avoidance on congested orbital highways through the ESA Collision Risk Estimation and Automated Mitigation (CREAM) program. What was it about Astroscale’s service offering that made you the clear choice? Chris Blackerby: Collision avoidance is part of routine satellite operations where a satellite needs to manoeuvre to avoid other satellites or pieces of debris. The risk of collision is continuously monitored and when the risk is above a certain level, mitigation actions are put in place. This is a very resource-intensive process that demands expertise from spacecraft operators and other engineers. The risk of collisions in space is increasing. Euroconsult recently announced that more than 17,000 satellites are planned to be launched in the next decade. This is leading to many conjunction alerts, currently estimated at one actionable alert and avoidance manoeuvre per satellite, per year on average. With so many large constellations expected to launch, the resources and associated costs will continue to rise exponentially.

End-of-Life-Service demonstration (ELSA-d) mission. Photo courtesy Astroscale

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Q&A Astroscale Over the past few years, the space community and society at large has become aware of the urgency of the issue, and we are seeing a shift toward action, from both government and industry. Governments are funding missions to remove debris, satellite operators are taking more responsible actions in support of orbital sustainability, and a growing number of companies are getting into the satellite servicing business. This call to action was most significantly seen during the G7 Summit in 2021, when member nations pledged to take action to tackle the hazard of space debris and released a statement that welcomes all efforts, public and commercial, in debris removal and on-orbit servicing activities.

ELSA-d pre launch test. Photo courtesy Astroscale

The CREAM program will explore innovative ways to develop and test concepts for late commanding paths which will allow for late decisions in collision avoidance by looking at different classes of satellite collision avoidance operations, including constellations. Astroscale formed a strong partnership with the UK, Romania, and GMV Portugal to garner their expertise with on ground and onboard collision avoidance processes and information sharing systems. OneWeb is sharing its expertise and insights on the specific methods and challenges in managing collision avoidance for large satellite constellations. It is expected that Astroscale services will be operating in very busy orbital regimes where efficient collision avoidance strategies will be of importance. We expect that our missions will be prime candidates to test future CREAM algorithms and software. Question: For those unaware, would you care to detail the emerging conversations around space debris and orbital sustainability? Chris Blackerby: We are at a critical juncture in our development and utilization of space. Society’s use of data and information from satellites is expanding at an everincreasing rate, and this is driving more companies to launch more satellites to provide that data. These orbital highways are already crowded with objects, 95 percent of which are debris ranging from specks of paint to several ton upper stage rocket bodies. 24

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Question: With satellite coverage set to exponentially increase as space law and de-orbiting commitments remain in their infancy, what will it take to assure sustainable orbits in the 21st century? Chris Blackerby: There are two key steps that need to be taken to keep space sustainable. First, satellite operators, especially operators that are building out large satellite constellations in low Earth orbit, should prepare satellites to be serviced prior to launch. Astroscale’s proposal is to pre-mount a docking plate on all satellites so that if there is a failure in orbit, we can approach, rendezvous, and remove the defunct satellite. Preparation of satellites with a common interface allows us to produce servicing satellites at volume – safely and economically. Second, those groups that have primarily contributed to the debris in orbit since the start of the space age, should pay for the removal of large objects. Since government missions created most of the existing debris in orbit, they should fund missions to remove critically large pieces such as upper stage rockets and defunct satellites. ESA, JAXA, and the UK Space Agency all have missions in various stages of development that are focused on the removal of orbital debris. Astroscale is currently working with JAXA and the UK Space Agency on their projects and we would like to see more of these missions worldwide. Like roadside car services on highways terrestrially, servicing of satellites in space will keep our orbital highways safe, reduce the risk to commercial and government satellite operators, and stimulate the entire economy – both in orbit and on Earth. Question: In April, your contract with the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) to research and develop extra-vehicular general-purpose robotic arm and hand technologies was renewed for another year, exemplifying the country’s interest in creating disruptive progress in the space market. Do you believe the Western world underestimates the potential for space technology development in Asia? Chris Blackerby: Japan has a strong history in civil space with its first successful satellite launch in 1970. Over the following decades, Japanese contributions to space grew rapidly, to the point where Japan was a partner in building the ISS and now has one of the most robust space budgets in the world, supporting a wide array of missions. Japan has also been at the forefront of the growing

Q&A Astroscale commercial development of space. When Nobu Okada founded Astroscale in 2013, there were only a handful of space startups in Japan. However, during the past decade, this number has swelled to more than 40 companies covering services from ground-based communications to lunar exploration, and everything in between. This growth has been spurred by Japan’s goal to double the size of its current $11 billion commercial space industry by the early 2030s. The Japanese government, JAXA, and private investors have cultivated a thriving startup scene, and that investment is paying off in groundbreaking technologies and the creation of new markets. Question: Following the success of ELSA-D, your ELSAM multi-client servicer is preparing for an in-orbit demonstration in 2024. Could you outline that experiment? Chris Blackerby: ELSA-M, the commercial follow-on to our End-of-Life-Service by Astroscale-demonstration (ELSAd) mission, represents our first full service offering to remove multiple (M) pieces of debris in a single low-Earth orbit mission. The mission will mature Astroscale’s integrated end-to-end satellite servicing solution, taking an important step toward the sustainable development of space. Comprising both space and ground segment products, the In-Orbit Demonstration (IOD) will provide the proof of concept of Astroscale’s commercial debris removal capability. The mission is planned in partnership with OneWeb, a large constellation operator with nearly 400 satellites in orbit, with whom Astroscale has been working for four years.

#ELSA-M #ESA #CollisionAvoidance The IOD, which is expected to launch in the 2024 timeframe, will demonstrate the ELSA-M servicer docking with a client asset in space. It will include demonstrations of repeated docking and un-docking to further mature our capability after the ELSA-d demonstration mission. The ELSA-M servicer is being developed to service a range of future constellation customers. Question: What will Astroscale’s service model look like in ten- or twenty-years’ time, when we can expect the orbital servicing market to have matured beyond its experimental stages? Chris Blackerby: In ten years, we would like to see onorbit servicing activities become routine work in space, much like waste management on the ground. We want it to be so routine that we eventually don’t make headlines for simply taking out the trash. To achieve this, satellite operators have to future-proof their satellites and their operations before launch so that when they fail or malfunction, we can go up and service or remove them. Governments will need to regularly budget to remove their large pieces of debris and set regulatory expectations for responsible practices in the commercial sector. When these become the norm, our vision of securing safe and sustainable orbits for generations to come will become a reality. Overall, we expect that Astroscale will become a critical service provider for safely removing defunct objects from space and pioneering new ways to service, upgrade, and transport spacecraft to maintain and grow the viability of Earth’s orbits.

ELSA-d vibration test. Photo courtesy Astroscale www.satellite-evolution.com | May 2022

#Blackbird #Seraphim #PatrickMcCall

Former Virgin Group partner joins Seraphim’s investment team Seraphim Space Manager LLP, the manager of Seraphim Space Investment Trust plc, the world’s first listed Space Tech Fund, has announced that Patrick McCall, former Senior Partner of Virgin Group, will join the company. Patrick joins Seraphim as a Venture Partner following a long and distinguished career in the space, communication and transport sector, He worked for two decades in the senior team driving the expansion of the Virgin Group and as the Chair of Virgin Orbit and Virgin Galactic. His achievements include financing the development of Virgin Galactic and Virgin Orbit, culminating in the flotations of both companies. He also played a key role in agreeing the launch agreement for Virgin Orbit from the Spaceport in Cornwall later this year. During his career at Virgin, Patrick has been the Chair or Board Director of seven companies across various sectors that have gone on to become Unicorns. These include developing Virgin Active, Virgin Blue (now Australia) Virgin Money, Virgin Mobile USA, Virgin Trains, The Trainline and One Web. In appointing Patrick, Seraphim is supercharging the support it will offer to its portfolio companies. Patrick will advise several of SSIT’s portfolio companies such as DOrbit, which is focused on space sustainability and Satellite Vu, which is focused upon climate sustainability, through monitoring every building on the planet to measure carbon emissions. As Venture Partner at Seraphim Patrick will work with

Patrick McCall discussing the future of space with the Prime Minister at Spaceport Cornwall at G7 in 2021

the boards of several of the portfolio companies with the specific interest of driving their climate and sustainability applications. Mark Boggett, CEO of Seraphim Space (Manager) LLP, said: “We are convinced that SpaceTech will address many of the biggest problems faced by our planet. We are delighted to welcome Patrick as Venture Partner, as one of the world’s leading SpaceTech pioneers, to use his considerable experience to help Seraphim portfolio companies execute their ambitious plans to address climate and sustainability issues.” Patrick McCall, Venture Partner at Seraphim Space said: "I am delighted to join Seraphim Space at this exciting time for the industry. New technology and rapid innovation are driving significant progress in the sector and enabling new space companies to tackle some of the world's most complex environmental and social challenges. As a leading investor in Space technology, Seraphim is ideally placed to develop this next generation with capital and expertise. I am looking forward to supporting this mission and building world class companies and solutions."

Blackbird hires Sumit Rai as Chief Product Officer

Blackbird plc has announced the appointment of Sumit Rai as Chief Product Officer. Sumit will join the Company in June 2022 from VEGAS Creative Software where he holds the same role. Sumit has over 23 years leadership experience in the video and film industry. Starting off as a visual effects and video editor in news production, children’s TV and film, Sumit progressed to Chief Technology Officer at Pukka Films developing an innovative, award-winning production facility before founding Kulu Valley. Providing enterprise video distribution platforms for tier 1 organizations, Kulu Valley was acquired by Qumu Inc in 2014 where Sumit served as Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Product Officer. Sumit is leaving his position as Chief Product Officer of the well-known video editing platform, VEGAS Pro. He joins Blackbird to lead the strategic development and direction of the Company’s product suite. Having developed video editing and distribution platforms used by thousands of companies and millions of users, Sumit will help take Blackbird’s multi award-winning and multi-patented technology to wider markets. Sumit Rai said: “As the future of video content creation moves to the cloud it’s great to be joining Blackbird, already leaders in the space. The opportunities are endless as the technology can add major efficiencies and value in so many markets and enable many new users. I can’t wait to start working alongside the Blackbird team.” Blackbird CEO, Ian McDonough, added: “I am truly delighted to welcome Sumit, who joins us with immense personal drive and energy informed by relevant industry experience in SaaS video platforms. We are bringing him into the Blackbird team to lead the strategic development of our product portfolio and help accelerate our growth. He joins the Company at an exciting time when we are very well positioned to leverage our core technology into fast growing video markets.”

www.satellite-evolution.com | May 2022

#Intelsat #Comtech

Intelsat announces new executive appointments Intelsat has named four seasoned aerospace and tech leaders to key financial and commercial roles. Anthony (Toby) O’Brien will become Intelsat’s next chief financial officer (CFO). Bringing a wealth of experience to the job, O’Brien most recently served as corporate CFO for Raytheon Technologies (NYSE: RTX) after a five-year stint as CFO for Raytheon Company before its merger with United Technologies. He led teams for more than three decades at Raytheon, both in corporate and various divisional and business unit finance roles, and was a key player in several strategic initiatives including the Raytheon Technologies merger and integration. O’Brien will report directly to Intelsat’s new CEO, David Wajsgras. Michael DeMarco, currently Intelsat’s chief services officer will become the new chief commercial officer (CCO), responsible for all Intelsat commercial services offerings to include product management, sales activities, sales engineering, and pricing. He will continue to report to Wajsgras. DeMarco has been with the company for more than 20 years, previously leading Intelsat’s product, engineering and operations teams. He was also responsible for the company’s digital transformation strategy and the delivery of the company’s end-to-end service portfolio. Clay McConnell has been named the company’s senior vice president of Corporate Communications and Marketing. McConnell came to Intelsat after three decades in communications at Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) and Airbus SAS (AIR.PA), where he most recently served as head of communications for Airbus Americas. McConnell also reports directly to Wajsgras. Jeff Sare joins the company as the new president of Intelsat’s Commercial Aviation division. Sare comes to

Michael DeMarco, currently Intelsat’s chief services officer will become the new chief commercial officer (CCO)

Intelsat from his role as vice president and Connectivity Solutions business segment leader at Panasonic Avionics. He also has held several executive roles in other aerospace and electronics companies, including work for Thales in strategic planning and inflight entertainment and connectivity. Sare will report to DeMarco. “As we execute our strategy to create an environment of seamless global connections with transformational technologies, we are committed to reestablishing the market and innovation leadership that has been the hallmark of Intelsat for decades,” said CEO Wajsgras. “Talented people like Jeff, Mike, Toby, and Clay will help the team position our company to deliver on our strategic objectives. They share Intelsat’s dedication to building and leveraging our unified communications network to help our customers stay connected – all the time, everywhere.” DeMarco, O’Brien, and McConnell will be based in the company’s McLean, Virginia office, while Sare will be based with Intelsat’s Commercial Aviation team in Chicago. All begin their roles this month.

Comtech promotes Timothy Jenkins to President of its Safety & Security Technologies Product Group Comtech Telecommunications has announced that Timothy Jenkins will become President of its Safety and Security Technologies product group, effective as of June 1, 2022. Jenkins has been with Comtech for over three years, joining the company through its 2019 acquisition of the state and local government next-generation 911 business from General Dynamics Information Technology, Inc. Most recently, he has served as Group Vice President and General Manager within the Safety and Security Technologies organization, leading the implementation of next-generation 911 capabilities for customers across the United States. Jenkins has been involved in the public safety and 911 industry for over 28 years, serving in leadership positions at Ameritech and SBC Communications (subsequently acquired by AT&T) and Intrado. Kent Hellebust, the current President of Comtech’s Safety and Security Technologies product group, will be retiring as of May 31, 2022, after serving in the role since April 2018. This culminates Hellebust’s decade of service at Comtech after joining in January 2012 and holding a variety of leadership roles related to the 911 business. Mike Porcelain, Comtech President and CEO, commented, “Tim has played a key role in the growth and development of our next-generation 911 product line. He has been an invaluable contributor to the organization, leading customer operations and support. I look forward to Tim’s continued leadership and contributions to Comtech as he assumes the role of President.”

www.satellite-evolution.com | May 2022

Q&A Kea Aerospace

How perpetual solar HAPS solve big sustainability goals Mark Rocket, Chief Executive Officer & Company Director, Kea Aerospace

Kea Aerospace offers a more sensible alternative in perpetual, solar-powered High Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (HAPS) craft. From Christchurch, New Zealand, they support the Oceanic space ecosystem with data gathering and imaging technology, delivering for monitoring and disaster prevention business cases with a sustainable operation. Mark Rocket, Chief Executive Officer & Company Director explained more about the company’s disruptive potential.

Satellite Evolution Global

Laurence Russell, Assistant Editor, Satellite Evolution Group

Q&A 30

www.satellite-evolution.com | May 2022

Question: The current market for satellite imagery and LEO broadband is difficult to enter, due to high barriers to entry, as well as the temporary nature of orbital infrastructure, sometimes only being operable for as little as a year or two. How viable are HAPs technologies in creating a cheaper alternative for Earth observation and pseudo-sat connectivity? Mark Rocket: HAPs technology will have a tremendously positive effect on the world’s future. We are at a technology convergence point where it is now possible to develop aircraft that can sustain perpetual flight at high altitudes. Flying in the stratosphere, an aircraft is above the winds and weather. Aircraft can be powered by solar energy to fly continuously for many months, in time their missions will last for years. It’s very expensive to develop and launch satellites into space and, since they’re orbiting around the Earth at thousands of kilometres per hour, you need a large swarm of small satellites to continually cover the

Southern Alps Stratosphere. Photo courtesy Kea Aerospace

Q&A Kea Aerospace same area. In addition, smaller satellites have a limited payload capacity and can only house smaller, lowresolution cameras. A solar-powered HAPs aircraft can loiter over the same area and is at least twenty times closer to the ground than satellites, thereby offering a compelling technological advantage. Question: Could you explain how perpetual solar flight is possible? Mark Rocket: A large fixed-wing aircraft fitted with solar panels can be charged by solar energy during the day, then the batteries will sustain the aircraft’s power during the night cycle. Some of the key challenges sit around designing an extremely light and durable aircraft; but being able to operate at a much lower air density than we have at ground level, all at a temperature of around -60 degrees Celsius. Combine this with extreme power management and aeroelastic management, and you get an idea of the interesting technology pathway required. Question: Are high-altitude perpetual-flight solar vehicles the future of HAPs technology? Mark Rocket: There are two main high-altitude platform options: balloons or aircraft. Balloons may be part of the answer for some HAPs applications, but we believe that aircraft offer the most versatility and best performance to consistently deliver the payload to where it needs to go. Then it comes down to aircraft flight endurance. Solar

#KeaAerospace #HAPs #GreenIndustry power has been the most popular energy source for HAPs technology to date, but there may also be future HAPs aircraft that are powered by hydrogen. A hydrogenpowered aircraft would be able to lift a heavier payload to the stratosphere, though it would have a much more limited flight duration (we’d expect under ten days). A solarpowered aircraft will be able to fly continuously for many months at a time. Question: In a market plagued with discussions on launch pollution and space debris, are solar-powered HAPs future-proofed for the green industry revolution experts have predicted? Mark Rocket: It’s difficult to find the perfect green technology solution but we believe HAPs do stack up favourably, particularly if each vehicle is deployed for extended periods of time. Launching hardware to space is costly for the environment - rockets use swimming pools of rocket fuel and large components are discarded to burn up in the atmosphere. Some HAPs may use fuels such as hydrogen, but for many applications there are clear advantages of HAPs being powered by solar energy. This will significantly reduce the cost on the environment if there are fleets of aircraft flying for long durations. Like electric cars, HAPs technology relies on battery technology which, though not ideal, is getting better year on year. A HAPs aircraft is also designed to be lightweight, so it’s integral to the design to reduce the mass of the vehicle which inherently reduces waste.

Solar-powered High Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (HAPS) craft. Photo courtesy Kea Aerospace

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Photo courtesy Kea Aerospace

Question: With a scientific consensus that natural disasters are getting worse and more frequent, are affordable imaging devices like Kea Atmos the perfect answer for creating early warning systems for the ecological disasters to come? Mark Rocket: You can’t solve the problem if you can’t see it. When there are natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, wildfires, and floods, then people need to quickly see what’s going on and be able to respond swiftly. We are experiencing widespread ecological changes on a global scale, and we believe that HAPs will have an important role to play in future risk mitigation, as well as helping to establish swifter reaction times to deploy resources to where they need to go. Question: Innovations like yours are just one of the insights offered by the New Zealand space industry, and the greater Asiatic talent base at large. Should the Western world be paying more attention to the Eastern one? Mark Rocket: There are HAPs development projects underway in New Zealand, Australia, and South Korea, as well as a range of other locations in North America, Asia, and Europe. We expect to see more people around the world paying closer attention to HAPs technology in the near future as these projects get closer to commercialisation. 32

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Solar-powered HAPs technology will progress rapidly this decade and there will soon be widespread awareness of the benefits that stratospheric platforms can bring to a wide range of applications. Question: What future applications do you see perpetual solar flight technology satisfying in the net-zero world governments are scrambling to implement? Mark Rocket: At Kea Aerospace, we see environmental monitoring as a key application, and we’re excited about making contributions in this area. Governments and organisations are wanting to see the full data picture to detect changes that are taking place over their land and waterways. There are data gaps for aerial imagery in other applications such as precision agriculture, forestry, smart cities, disaster management, and maritime domain awareness. Currently, the main method by which people can access high-resolution aerial imagery is from manned aircraft, but these are expensive to run and have infrequent coverage over broad areas. Swarms of satellites will be able to achieve coverage over wide areas, but they orbit too high to get the quality resolution required for many applications. We are developing game-changing HAPs technology to regularly acquire aerial imagery over vast areas at a superior quality – and we’ll do this much more regularly and more cost-effectively than has ever been achieved before.

www.satellite-evolution.com | May 2022

#Kratos #NewSpace #Antennas

Q&A Kacific

Business as a force for good Christian Patouraux, CEO, Kacific

Kacific (www.kacific.com) provides high-quality broadband access to the Pacific and Southeast Asia at a cost that is affordable for customers in remote rural and suburban areas. Recognized as the Satellite Project of the Year at the Global Carrier Awards 2021, Kacific’s COVID-19 Response project enabled the installation of more than 200 terminals in Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, the Philippines, and Tonga. We reached out to CEO Christian Patouraux to learn more about how delivering reliable connectivity to underserved areas helps people and saves lives.

Satellite Evolution Global

Crispin Littlehales, Global Contributing Editor, Satellite Evolution Group

Q&A 34

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Question: Kacific was incubated in 2013 by a group of experienced satellite professionals who believe in “business as a force for good”; what prompted the early team to come together at that moment and how has the company evolved? Christian Patouraux: We got together because we knew large pockets of demand existed in Asia, Southeast Asia, the Pacific, and other parts of the world that were not adequately served with reliable broadband. At that time, nobody wanted to embrace that market because Broadcast was still the bread and butter of the industry. We had a long road to financing the company, specifying the satellite, and procuring the satellite and ground systems, but after we launched Kacific1 in 2019, the market responded extremely well. In terms of “business as a force for good”, Kacific creates a bridge between the capital markets that finance our infrastructure and those areas that are in deep need of connectivity. Kacific leverages those

CommsBox a self-contained system that works with just one touch of a button. Photo courtesy Kacific

www.satellite-evolution.com | May 2022

Digitizing Gateways

Women at Health Centre. Photo courtesy Kacific

markets to build a streamlined commercial infrastructure that provides the right types of service to these areas at a low-cost, high-quality, and high level of access. That said, we believe that there is only one internet, not one for the rich and another for the poor. Either you provide the right quality of regular internet applications for those end users who have limited spending power, or they will simply not use it. By providing fundamental connectivity, Kacific becomes a sort of public service to those areas. We are enabling medical care, educating kids, providing security, and connecting courts of justice as well as police stations; we are saving lives. It’s a win/win situation between the markets, the investors, and Kacific. Question: Kacific Gigstarter is an elegant solution for connecting people in remote locations; who uses it and how are their lives transformed? Christian Patouraux: Gigstarter answers the needs of the developing world, particularly for those who don’t want to commit over a long period, which equates to more than 95 percent of the mobile lines that are active in Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and other similar locations. It is also suitable for regions where small internet service providers don’t have the infrastructure or the knowledge to package raw bandwidth coming from a satellite. What these small internet service providers want to do is sell a broadband plan to the market. It is also suitable for larger customers who want to test a sizeable deployment of broadband in a particular region before buying bulk satellite bandwidth. So, we sell broadband plans to a licensed operator who 36

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sells that plan to the market and provides installation, collection of funds, and the first line of troubleshooting, if there is a need for that. We remain at arm’s length from the market. We are still a wholesaler, but with Gigstarter we are selling with a model that looks like a retail franchise. The end customers for Gigstarter are mainly small and medium enterprise offices, such as plantations and government facilities. For example, in the Philippines, the government purchases Gigstarter to connect many of their schools, hospitals, and facilities with an internet service. At present, they don’t buy wholesale services. However, we do offer the option to purchase bulk bandwidth which they can then shape and package themselves. We leave it up to the customer to choose. Question: Disaster communications using the CommsBox is an important part of your business; how was it created and how much does it cost? Christian Patouraux: I was caught in the tsunami that hit Thailand on December 26, 2004, and it was a life-changing event. I was on a small island where the rate of death hit 50 percent. Two towers operated on battery for an hour and a half, and then all communication ceased. The entire island was shut off from the rest of the world. Nothing was working. People were severely wounded, and nobody could come and help them. I’ve also seen many other disasters—cyclones, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions—and communications are really at the heart of disaster response, which is what happens in the first four days after the disaster strikes. People run out of food and water; there is no sanitation; victims are hurt and need to be evacuated by emergency

Q&A Kacific rescue teams. The Pacific Islands are especially vulnerable to natural disasters. So, we created CommsBox (www.kacific.com/kacific-commsbox), a self-contained system that works with just one touch of a button. It doesn’t require any training to operate, just a simple pictorial, 5step user guide. Anyone on the scene only need open the box, push the button, and be connected instantly with Kacific’s satellite internet. Local and state governments and NGOs are the biggest customers. They store the equipment in disaster-prone areas or dispatch it from a central warehouse. The system costs US$60,000 and it comes with five-year broadband loaded into it, so there is no need to call us to have it activated. CommsBox can be deployed anywhere throughout the Kacific1 coverage area. In the future, when we’ll have a second satellite, this system will be usable anywhere at any time across an even bigger coverage area. Question: How was Kacific able to help communities hit by typhoon Odette and cyclone Harold? Christian Patouraux: Some local providers had a stock of our dishes and were able to redeploy shortly after typhoon Odette passed. We did find out about a diesel power plant located about a 90-minute drive from Surigao City that had been knocked out for two months after the typhoon. They finally contacted a Kacific provider who got them up and running on our system, and they are still using it because the service is better than the ADSL they had before. The same was true for cyclone Harold. Providers had dishes in storage, which they could then set up after the storm. One of our dishes was sheltered by a house, so it remained live throughout the entire event, and we saw images of the heart of the cyclone unfolding during the night in Vanuatu. Because ease of service access is one of our attributes, providers were able to get additional equipment to the affected locations quickly, plant the replacement dish in the ground, and activate the system within a few hours.

#Kacific #DisasterRevovery #IoT #CommsBox We connected to a hospital within a day or two after the cyclone hit, and we were the first to reconnect several islands, including Pentecost Island, which was very badly hit by the storm. During these times, the system is usually shared among multiple parties to power up the community. For example, as we connected the hospital, the community surrounding the hospital was able to access the internet as well, with a small purchase of vouchers. Question: Kacific signed an MoU with Farmer Charlie to address sustainable agriculture, climate change, land management, and risk mitigation for drought and floods for small farmers in remote communities; how did this partnership come about, and how is it proceeding? Christian Patouraux: Kacific has thousands and thousands of users across Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and the Pacific Islands. We have wanted to operate an Internet of Things (IoT) system on the existing base of end-user terminals for some time. These terminals could be augmented to connect IoT devices within 10, 20, or even 30 kilometres around the base by deploying specific IoT gateways. We had discussed this idea with a few experts, and then I met Betty Bonnardel, Farmer Charlie’s CEO, when she came to Singapore with a delegation from the UK. She told me that Farmer Charlie was developing IoT devices and special gateways that can extend VSAT systems 10 to 30 kilometres out. That was very interesting to us because it was very much in line with our vision. We could tap into a different type of market for soil monitoring, security, and turning systems on and off remotely via a data stream that one could send to other devices. This would change the way rural communities operate by connecting them and enhancing their security. We’ve had a few discussions and the partnership is shaping up. The same department within Kacific that created the CommsBox is looking after this project. We are a few

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#Kacific #Healthcare #Asia months away from rolling this out on a small scale, and I hope that we will increase our reach and the scale of deployment within a year. Question: How are Kacific’s solutions different from other satellite solutions? Christian Patouraux: First of all, Kacific is low-cost, highspeed, and high access service packaged together in one offering. Our systems are easy to install, using very nimble equipment that can be deployed in rural areas anywhere in the coverage. Each entry-level terminal can achieve 50Mbps in download speeds and 10Mbps in upload speeds on a 1.2m antenna. Customers pay a modest amount of money. The threshold set by UNESCO is 2 percent of the gross national income (GNI) per capita per month for one gigabyte, and today we are at about 1.4 percent of the GNI per capita per month for one gigabyte in Papua New Guinea, which is one of the least affluent target markets, hence performing well within these affordability benchmarks. We are not selling directly to the customer, rather, we have local partners who sell our services. We provide an additional layer of service instead of some other operator that offers direct services in Asia but operates out of another part of the world. We now have a network of more than 300 authorized distributors in Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and the Pacific Islands. Kacific can then leverage this network to provide after-

Q&A Kacific sales support and customer care service. We also have 27 warehouses that stock our equipment across all our markets and deliver the customer equipment directly to places where it is needed. It is an extremely challenging and time-consuming effort to put such a network into place and we have built it one brick at a time. Question: What are Kacific’s plans? Christian Patouraux: Our business is growing quickly, and our current satellite is already almost 60 percent utilized after only two years into service. According to an independent consultant who reviewed our impact on socio-economic development, the current Kacific service to the healthcare sector saves approximately 3,000 lives each year. Having connectivity in extremely precarious environments is curbing mortality for the most vulnerable individuals in rural and remote areas including infants, young mothers, children, the elderly, and the sick. Similarly, it is estimated that Kacific currently provides daily e-education to approximately 15,000 school kids; and these numbers are swiftly increasing. Hence, we want to leverage our success and our development impact and deepen our reach into Southeast Asia and into South Asia, and further our expansion westwards after that. We have a proposal for two more satellites and have received bids from worldclass manufacturers. We should be ready to sign an agreement later this year.

Santo Sunset Environmental Network at Wunpuku Dispensary in remote Western Santo Sanma province using 3 Link for environmental and disaster recovery. Photo courtesy Kacific

www.satellite-evolution.com | May 2022

Photo courtesy Speedcast

Revolutionizing remote sites around the world with IoT

The Internet of Things (IoT) is changing the way that modern businesses operate. At the end of 2021, there were an estimated 31 billion devices being used worldwide. IoT is enabling a new wave of innovation, from automated vehicles to factories where temperature and cooling systems can be adjusted without any human intervention. John Geasa, Senior Director, IoT Products and Services at Speedcast

usinesses that have begun to implement IoT connectivity solutions are already seeing the benefits, with a recent McKinsey report indicating a 27 percent increase in human productivity and 23 percent in operation optimization. IoT technology has allowed companies and organizations to sidestep the workforce challenges that stem from working on remote sites, as well as the further issues resulting from the COVID19 pandemic. The role of satellites in maximizing the efficiency of IoT cannot be understated. Without the connectivity solutions provided through the use of satellite technology, remote sites with limited access to mobile networks would be unable to enjoy the benefits of IoT. The companies that leverage the correct software and reliable satellite connectivity can gain access to unlimited remote site monitoring and innovative tracking solutions.

DEVICE AGNOSTIC

The global pandemic increased the challenges that many operators working in remote industrial environments were 40

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already facing. Regulations and lockdowns minimized the number of resources available onsite. Those numbers are slowly returning, but not yet to pre-pandemic levels. Nevertheless, companies have to rely on IoT to ensure their operations are running efficiently at the farthest reaches of the world. In order to succeed, companies need to be device agnostic. Without being confined by brands or operators, companies can choose the best-of-breed technology that meets their requirements. The combination of sensors, tracking solutions, communication, and remote control that can utilize different connectivity paths will accelerate the organization’s digital transformation.

CONNECTING THE EDGE

Since the advent of 5G, users have been accustomed to greater capacity, with some operators offering speeds up to 10 Gbps. 5G connectivity has been designed to support IoT with improved performance for narrowband applications like machine-to-machine. It offers better access technology, which reduces the power drain on small, battery-operated IoT devices and allows them to operate much longer.

#Speedcast #IoT #RemoteSites

John Geasa, Senior Director, IoT Products and Services at Speedcast

However, when an asset is off-the-grid with no cellular coverage, 5G is no longer an option. Organizations will need to rely on other technologies. Satellites are essential in order to fill this void, and in recent years satellite technology advancements have played a key role in maintaining productive and stable operations. Medium and Low Earth Orbit (MEO and LEO) constellations have changed the landscape, enabling many devices to stay connected despite the operational sites being in hard-toreach areas or at sea. LEO satellites occupy the lowest latitude, operating between 800 and 1,600 kilometers above the surface. By operating at such low proximity, LEO satellites offer a delay of just 0.05 seconds, making them ideal for use-cases where real-time connectivity is essential, such as video conferencing and remote operation applications. To ensure critical applications are connected, organizations can look to implement software that manages transitions between 5G and LEO satellites, enabling always-on connectivity no matter the location. Software-defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) technologies allow users to tailor the networks to their respective industries. Once 4G and 5G networks become available the most cost-effective option will be automatically chosen, with the software switching back to the always-on satellite connection should there be any network disruption. With increased efficiency and performance, businesses that can utilize IoT technology with the most effective communication technologies can expect greater profitability.

ADVANCED CAPABILITIES SAVING LIVES

Some of the greatest demand for IoT technology comes from security applications - for workers and equipment alike. Greater performance levels will come from a workforce who knows they are protected and safe whilst on site. Connected vehicle and asset tracking systems are being incorporated throughout remote sites to increase safety and security for personnel as they move around and allow for them to quickly call for help in an emergency or warn of a threat. The use of satellites plays a key role in

protecting the workforce and their equipment: LEO satellites enable a tracking system that alerts operators should any assets deviate from their assigned routes, whilst geofencing technology can trigger an alarm should equipment be taken from its authorized zone. Traditional security measures are also being enhanced using telecommunication systems integration elements, such as intrusion detection, Closed-circuit television (CCTV), and access control, to protect workers and restricted areas onsite. Wi-Fi availability and Internet Protocol television (IPTV) allow operators to communicate with other employees or sites seamlessly, ensuring reliable lines of communication for operations no matter how remote the location. The safety of staff on site is also improved using wireless technology. Autonomous vehicles navigate using signals from beacons that can provide accuracy as close as a centimeter. Devices can automatically detect these, and vehicles can be quickly stopped should someone come too close. For mineworkers, hazard sensors for oxygen and carbon dioxide levels are automatically monitored throughout an underground area with these innovative IoT devices, drastically reducing the risk of injury or hospitalization. In addition to improved safety at sea or on remote sites, engineers and operators can use network-optimized video streaming solutions to collaborate and continue doing their jobs, without needing to travel to the field. Tasks that may have taken days to resolve will be executed within minutes, drastically reducing downtime. This also reduces costs for operators, lessening the need for transportation and living expenses. Robotic and Artificial Intelligence technology now allows companies to train the local workforce to do the work and provide them with “hands-on” live support without additional resources onsite, which was especially helpful when stringent travel restrictions and safety regulations were being enforced. Remote applications will even allow personnel to manage complex industrial machinery from alternative locations as next-generation technology comes to the fore.

A PROACTIVE APPROACH TO FUTURE-PROOFING

Technology continues to change and adapt at an everincreasing rate. IoT technologies that are considered stateof-the-art today can quickly become outdated, and businesses may find themselves implementing newer, expensive solutions to make sure they’re able to maximize production in remote sites. This newer technology may also become obsolete should future developments in technology not be predicted and incorporated into operations. Companies can combat such obsolescence by futureproofing the devices they use in their operations, providing their workforce with reliable, up-to-date technologies that will ensure long-lasting performance alongside strong Return on Investment (ROI). Connected IoT devices allow for easier updates, and businesses who choose open infrastructure for their systems make it easier to upgrade their technology without having to rely on a single vendor. For technology in use at remote sites, the strong connectivity offered by satellites is enabling quicker www.satellite-evolution.com | May 2022

#Speedcast #IoT #RemoteSites #WorkerSafety updates, helping businesses maintain at the forefront of IoT technological advancements. Taking a proactive approach to IoT technology is vital for success, and plans must be in place for the continual replacement of business infrastructure with newer, optimal technology before the current systems become outdated. By incorporating planned obsolescence into operations, the lifecycles of systems are greatly extended, and a high level of performance is consistently maintained. Futureproofing remains vital to avoid unplanned, expensive systematic changes, especially in remote areas where even traveling to such sites to replace anything can be costly and time-consuming.

Photo courtesy Speedcast

www.satellite-evolution.com | May 2022

Internet of Things OFFERING A DIGITIZED FUTURE

Businesses are only beginning to tap the potential of IoT to drive economic growth. Investment in digital technologies will only lead to further enhancements for the on and offshore sites that exist even in the most remote areas. With the number of Industrial IoT connections across the globe predicted to reach more than US$36 billion by 2025, operators who invest in the right solutions for their operations can look forward to a profitable future as IoT connectivity looks to continue revolutionizing all industries. To maximize the capabilities of such technology, satellites will remain vital to operations long into the future.

www.satellite-evolution.com | May 2022

Cloud-Native Future

Satellite Evolution Global - May 2022

Articles inside

Revolutionizing remote sites around the world with IoT

Christian Patouraux, CEO, Kacific

Executive Movers & Shakers

Alvaro Alonso Ruiz, Co-Founder & CCO, Leanspace

Chris Blackerby, Chief Operating Officer, Astroscale

Satellite News & Analysis

Investment & Growth Indicators

Mark Rocket, Chief Executive Officer & Company Director, Kea Aerospace

Three approaches to bridging the Digital Divide in Latin America