SatShow Insights - Day 1

"Transition" will be the buzzword of the week. Everyone is transitioning. But, the question remains, who is leading the transition?

Kay Sears warns that the satellite industry workforce is losing female engineers, with a retention rate of 18%

Remember when satellites were big? When do we start calling small satellites just "satellites"?

LAUNCH PANEL IN A NUTSHELL

• SpaceX / ULA tout bigger, newer launchers
• Blue Origin nabs new customer with Sky Perfect JSAT
• ILS looking to create new small sat opportunities
• Arianespace's business is good
• Dr. Ko from MHI jokingly declares himself "Old Space" because he won't honor New Space requests for free launches

… There's no such thing as a free launch.

John Finney officially launches Isotropic Systems, a brand-new terminal/antenna hybrid that ships with dual beam capabilities, and announces customers: SES, Inmarsat and OneWeb... All in one Luncheon keynote. Still processing...

John Finney's luncheon keynote also reunites the OG O3b cast - Steve Collar, John Finney and Greg Wyler, in a major partnership aimed to tackle those big, lucrative, mobile markets.

There seems to be a lot of satellite companies here looking to hire software and network specialists. As if the demand for these people wasn't already high enough.

SGx keynotes throughout the day have addressed what is being called "the stretch" - the moment when young professionals feel they are being stretched to their absolute limits to succeed in their aerospace careers. The difference between those who give that 10% and succeed and those who burn out and change industries? Mentorship. Leaders who take the time to cultivate the next generation of talent.