Welcome to the July Edition of Via Satellite. It has been a busy few months as we rounded out a digital event series that included our first Digital LEO Forum and first Asia + EMEA satellite event.

This edition of Via Satellite returns with our most popular feature of recent years, “10 Hottest Companies in Satellite,” in which the editorial team unveils our picks for the 10 hottest companies in our industry in 2021. There are no right answers, and we hope it sparks an interesting debate. Selecting only 10 was far from easy, with many dynamic industry players to choose from. This year, we are introducing an ecosystem of content around the list complete with video Thursday Morning Conversation (TMC) interviews, and related On Orbit podcast episodes. You can access all of the content online here. Share your thoughts on social media with the hashtag #Via10HottestSatellite.

We also have a number of other great features in this month’s edition. With the world still in a state of volatility thanks to the COVID pandemic, we look at the impact on bandwidth pricing. This was one of our most popular stories of last year, so be sure to read the sequel to get the update on industry pricing trends.

This edition's Satellite Half Year Report analyzes the big events for the first six months of this year. It has been a hectic start, and we take a look at what has happened and point the way ahead. Finally, we have a case study with KLM, one of Europe’s largest airlines on their plans for In-Flight Connectivity (IFC). Encouragingly, KLM signed a deal with Viasat earlier this year and as more people return to flight, we examine the airline’s need for connectivity.

We are also gearing up for our first ever September SATELLITE show, which will be something different and exciting. Many interesting talking points to discuss this year. I will end as always by wishing you, your colleagues, and friends and family the best of health as we go into what is hopefully a more prosperous second half of the year.