Huge Stories Kick Off the Year in Satellite
February 23rd, 2026
This year is already off to a bold start, shaping up to be one of the most interesting ones of the current decade. We have already seen a slew of huge news stories this year with Blue Origin announcing a new constellation, Terawave and SpaceX acquiring xAI, as well as talk of a possible SpaceX IPO. Following on from the recent completion of the SES/Intelsat merger, the landscape has seen major news stories and shifts over the last year. Whether it is orbital data centers, direct-to-device sovereign space strategies, conversations have changed markedly since the start of the decade. SATShow Week will once again have its pulse on all of this as the industry assesses the growing need for space based applications and connectivity.
In this edition, we reveal once our 10 Hottest Companies in Satellite, one of our most popular stories of the year. Our Celebrating Women in Satellite feature continues to go from strength to strength. We also reveal our nominees for our Satellite Executive of the Year (SEOTY) and Satellite Technology of the Year (STOTY) awards. Finally, Leandra Bernstein looks at the latest developments in constellations and what we might see over the course of the next couple of years.
It is also a special year for Via Satellite. Would you believe we are celebrating our 40th birthday? For any publication to still be around 40 years later is a significant achievement, particularly in such a fragmented media landscape. But the team at Via Satellite is proud that our work is even more relevant now than it was in 1986. Via Satellite has been a part of reporting on the huge changes in our industry way before we all started using mobile phones and the internet the way we do now. Who knows what the next 40 years will bring.
I hope Via Satellite will still be around in 2066, to celebrate its 80th birthday. It will have a new editor by then, and I wonder what they will think when they look back at the 2026 and 1986 editions. On that philosophical note, we wish you well. We look forward to seeing at during SATShow Week and look forward to engaging with you in this transformative time for the industry.