There’s Never a Dull Moment in Space

Welcome to the final edition of Via Satellite in 2024. There’s never a dull moment in the satellite and space industry and 2024 was no exception.

One of the biggest news stories of the year was SES’s move to acquire Intelsat, finally resolving the will-they, won’t-they question of recent years. Mark and I recently caught up with SES CEO Adel Al-Saleh to talk about his vision for the combined company, and his conviction that SES and Intelsat need to combine to reach the scale necessary to compete in a changing industry. Adel was very generous with his time and we hope you enjoy the wide-ranging conversation.

We are bringing back a favorite end-of-year feature, “10 Tech Trends That Will Impact the Satellite Industry in 2025.” Longtime Via freelancer Anne Wainscott Sargent canvassed industry leaders to hear about the trends they are watching in the coming year. With input from Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck, Space Force Gen. General Stephen Whiting, and AIAA CEO Clay Mowry, this story is an excellent primer on some of the biggest storylines we’ll be tracking in 2025.

The past year was a critical year for Starlink in terms of gaining market share, disrupting some of the traditional enterprise markets like aviation, with headline-grabbing deals with United Airlines and Air France. Freelancer Adrienne Harebottle unpacks these updates, talking to leading analysts about what this means for the in-flight connectivity (IFC) market.

Thank you to everyone who is a part of the Via Satellite community — our team at Access Intelligence, freelancers, advertisers, advisory board, contributors, sources, and readers. We strive to bring you timely news and analysis of the industry and thank you so much for your support. If you haven’t joined our community of Via Satellite subscribers yet, I invite you to subscribe to receive our monthly digital magazine and daily news email right in your inbox.

I hope everyone has a great end of year and an enjoyable holiday season. Cheers!