Satellite Executive of the Year Nominees for 2021

A revolution is taking place in the satellite industry, against the backdrop of the pandemic of the last two years that has heightened the need for universal connectivity. The satellite industry is seeing unprecedented investment and becoming more mainstream by the day. This is reflected in the Satellite Executive of the Year award (SEOTY), with this year’s diverse set of nominees.

This prestigious award honors an executive that has led a company to great financial success or executed an innovative project — a leader that has had significant impact on a changing industry.

The winner of the award will be determined by a public vote combined with the votes of the Via Satellite editorial board. The winner will be announced during the Via Satellite awards luncheon on Wednesday, March 23, at the SATELLITE 2022 conference in Washington, D.C. Voting is open online from Feb. 22 to 12 p.m. on March 22 and can be accessed at satellitetoday.com/vote. Here are the 2021 Executive of the Year nominees.

Carissa Christensen, CEO of BryceTech

If one nominee reflects the changing nature of the SEOTY award, it is Carissa Christensen, CEO of BryceTech, a company that has become one of the most influential analytics and consulting companies in the sector over the last few years. Christensen is the very definition of an influencer and has become one of the leading and most respected industry voices.

Christensen and her team created the very first “Satellite Industry Indicators” report for Satellite Industry Association, reporting on industry revenue and activity. The report is released annually. The company tracks and analyzes industry segments including smallsats, venture investment, and launch, and publishes reports that influence decision making.

BryceTech was recently named No. 10 on Washington Technology’s Fast 50 list of the fastest growing companies in the Washington, D.C. area, with an impressive CAGR of close to 110 percent. In 2021, the company changed its name from Bryce Space and Technology to BryceTech to broaden its capabilities. Its client base includes the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and NASA, to name just some of these customers.

A company that was formed in 2016 has in a short space of time achieved strong revenue growth and a high-value client base. Christensen is an impressive CEO that has the respect of the industry, and has built one of the most exciting research and space analysis companies.

John Serafini, CEO of HawkEye 360

HawkEye 360 is an innovative company that has gone from an early-stage startup into a key player for commercial space-based radio frequency (RF) mapping, led by CEO John Serafini. One of the key barometers when looking at a company like HawkEye 360 is its ability to generate new business and move from concept to commercial reality. In 2021, HawkEye 360 closed contracts with a value of more than $50 million, including a contract from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which signed up to use HawkEye 360’s services for five years.

Revenue growth was impressive, with the company doubling its revenues again and growing to a company of more than 120 people. The company now has customers across the U.S., the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Asia and is becoming a key new player in the area of RF mapping.

Led by Serafini, HawkEye 360 had a banner year, closing two funding rounds, raising over $200 million. It added six small satellites to its constellation, as its strategy came into sharp focus. The company also introduced Mission Space, a commercial software platform built to facilitate the analysis of RF geospatial intelligence. The company’s data has been used for everything from identifying maritime oil smuggling operations to detecting illegal squid fishing off the coast of Oman. It has grown quickly and plans to launch more satellites and increase its customer base.

In 2021, HawkEye 360 saw impressive revenue growth and signed flagship contracts, while building a business in a relatively new area, under the leadership of Serafini.

Neil Masterson, CEO of OneWeb

Two years ago, it would have seemed impossible that a CEO of OneWeb would make this list after the much-hyped operator fell into bankruptcy in 2020. However, thanks to the United Kingdom government and Bharti Global, OneWeb has entered a new chapter and the future looks a lot brighter for the company. One of the drivers for the company’s resurgence has been the performance of new CEO Neil Masterson.

One of the most significant deals in the industry in 2021 was OneWeb’s deal with AT&T, which saw one of the world’s largest telcos put its faith in OneWeb’s Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) connectivity to serve some of its enterprise customers. This is a vote of confidence in LEO that could have an impact on satellite’s future working with telcos.

OneWeb signed distribution agreements and partnerships across the telecommunications sector, in deals with the likes of BT in the United Kingdom, Northwestel in Canada, and Alaska Communications in the United States. It is ironic that the same year that Inmarsat, the space jewel of the United Kingdom, is set to be acquired by Viasat, a new one has emerged. With the United Kingdom’s huge ambitions in the space sector, it is a great time to be a U.K. space company, and OneWeb is the flagship company of this new era for U.K. space.

The company’s rise and fall and rise again has been an exciting story in the satellite sector over the past two years. By any standards it was an impressive debut year for Masterson, especially as a newcomer to the sector. There is an energy about OneWeb that did not exist before, as the company grows its constellation and partner network, and signs statement deals with the likes of AT&T.

Nobu Okada, CEO of Astroscale

While issues like space sustainability and orbital debris removal are rising to the forefront, Astroscale is seen as a leader in pioneering solutions, and Nobu Okada is the visionary CEO leading the charge. Astroscale is a company that is helping solve a huge global problem, but doing so in a commercially viable way.

In 2021, the company showcased its potential. The most important event was the End-of-Life Services demonstration (ELSA-d) mission, which successfully completed its magnetic capture technical demonstration in August.

The company signed some significant contracts in 2021. It signed a collaborative partnership agreement with a launch service provider, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), and an in-orbit servicing robotics research contract with the Japanese government. It was also awarded a study contract by the UK Space Agency (UKSA). The feasibility study will prepare the groundwork for an Active Debris Removal (ADR) mission to remove two defunct satellites from space in 2025. The proposed study, called Cleaning Outer Space Mission through Innovative Capture (COSMIC), will use Astroscale’s capture technology and on-orbit capabilities.

It also achieved a significant financing milestone, completing the largest funding round in its history, worth close to $110 million, late last year. This brings Astroscale’s total financing raised to $300 million.

The numbers only tell half the story with Astroscale. With more and more satellites going up, space debris is only becoming a bigger issue going forward. Astroscale has become the poster child for companies in this area, thanks to Okada’s vision, which was ahead of its time.

Tina Ghataore, Chief Commercial Officer, Mynaric

This past year saw Mynaric, a company at the leading edge of laser communications, producing optical communications terminals for air, space, and mobile applications, become a significant part of the space industry’s public consciousness. Tina Ghataore, CCO of Mynaric and president of subsidiary Mynaric USA, has had a critical role in deals that have built Mynaric into a commercial juggernaut.

After opening a U.S. subsidiary led by Ghataore, Mynaric signed a number of deals in 2021, including bringing SpaceLink, Cloud Constellation, Capella Space, and Northrop Grumman on as customers for its laser communication terminals. The contract with Northrop Grumman to supply the company with laser communications for space applications is worth at least $35 million.

Then in December, Mynaric won a contract from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in which it will design a new optical communications terminal under the Space Based Adaptive Communications Node (Space-BACN) program. DARPA is hoping to produce a multi-protocol optical terminal that can work with both government and private-sector satellites for national security purposes.

The impressive deal flow, particularly in the United States, was one of the key elements of the Mynaric story in 2021. The company also placed shares on the Nasdaq market in the U.S. for the first time. There are many elements to the Mynaric story, and while CEO Bulent Altan also deserves immense credit, it is Ghataore’s ability to grow the U.S. business and relationships with U.S. government customers that earned Ghataore’s nomination.

Sara Spangelo, CEO of Swarm Technologies

You know a company must be good when SpaceX decides to buy it. SpaceX’s mantra is to do it all itself, but made its first known satellite company acquisition in 2021, acquiring IoT startup Swarm Technologies in April. At the heart of Swarm Technologies is CEO and co-founder Sara Spangelo, who has become one of the most influential women in the industry, leading a disruptive company.

In 2021, Swarm’s IoT network that connects sandwich-sized satellites to tiny, handheld hardware went live, offering remote connectivity at the market-disrupting price of $5 per month per device. The company is vertically integrated, and built and designed hardware, software, and protocols for its satellites and the user modem it calls the Swarm Tile, which is priced at $119. Swarm has the ambitious goal that its pricing model will be between four to 20 times cheaper than similar satellite offerings, and its pricing is set at a level that was not possible until recent years.

As many companies are targeting satellite IoT connectivity, Swarm is an established player and has around 150 satellites in orbit. Its goal is to make remote IoT connectivity affordable for customers that have not been able to afford satellite connectivity in the past.

Last year, Swarm made the list of Via Satellite’s 10 Hottest Companies in Satellite, even before the SpaceX deal. Now, it will be interesting to see what happens next with Swarm and Spangelo as the company becomes part of SpaceX. VS