Day One on the Horizon for the Satellite Industry

It is not every day you get to interview one of the world’s most recognized and admired business people, but that is what happened at the SATELLITE 2018 Conference & Exhbition when I sat down with Jeff Bezos to talk about all things Blue Origin as well as Bezos’s only background in the space industry. In this edition of Via Satellite, we bring you that interview. What struck me was the way Bezos called this “Day One” for the industry, meaning he sees where we are now as a new starting point. Time will tell whether that proves correct, but there is certainly a great deal of excitement around the industry and Bezos is just one of a number of high-profile entrepreneurs convinced that they can make a very real difference in this industry.

June is a month heavy with significant trade shows. First, we will have our fifth Global Connected Aircraft Summit in San Diego http://www.gcasummit.com. We have some amazing speakers this year including Apple, Oracle, Sprint, and Netflix, as well as host of airlines and key companies in this market. We think it is the best speaker lineup we have ever put together and we hope you can join us for this event that brings the satellite and aviation worlds together to talk all things connectivity.

We will also be at ConnecTechAsia where everyone involved in satellites in Asia will get together. Asia, as I have said many time, is a fascinating market for satellite, but without going over old ground, what interests me particularly at the moment is how Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites will play in the region, and the impact they could have on some of the traditional GEO operators there. With a lot of operators still figuring out what their LEO play is, it remains to be seen how local/regional operators will look to counter this capacity when it launches for the region.

We look forward to see you at these events and hope you are having a good 2018 so far, as excitement continues to build in our industry. VS