I want to start this note by telling you a story. Around 16 months ago, we needed an extra feature for our December 2018 edition of Via Satellite. Now, for those of you who are not familiar with how a newsroom works, this is where the point where editors throw a bunch of different ideas and hope that one sticks. After a short discussion, we hit upon the idea: “10 Hottest Companies in Satellite,” in which we would pick what we thought were the coolest, hippest companies to work for in the industry. We wanted to highlight a range of old and new, and companies from different parts of the world.

It seemed like a throwaway idea at the time, but over the next 18 months, this story would be by far the most popular story with our audience. Our last minute, scrambling in true Pat Mahomes-style thing actually turned into something really, really cool. Why do I tell you this story? As you might have guessed from the cover, the

Top 10 was so popular that we have decided to bring it back, especially for this SATELLITE edition. Hopefully, it will provide a talking point or two for the show. It’s also a lesson that sometimes the best ideas are the ones that come from instinct — not from over thinking. Anyway, we hope you enjoy.

In this edition, we also reveal the nominees for our Satellite Executive of the Year (SEOTY) and Satellite Technology of the Year (STOTY) awards, as well as contestants for our Startup Space competition. Announcing the winners will be one of the highlights of SATELLITE. On behalf of the editorial team of Via Satellite, I want to congratulate all the nominees for our SEOTY and STOTY awards. I have been doing this a long time now, and it is safe to say, it never gets any easier, as there are many great companies and executives in our industry. We hope you enjoy this edition and we look forward to seeing you at SATELLITE.