Digital LEO Forum Shows an Inflection Point for the Industry

I write this editor’s note after our first successful SATELLITE 2021: Digital LEO event, which brought together some of the biggest names in the industry to talk about the future of satellite connectivity. With the conversations accelerating around LEO thanks to recent announcements from Telesat and OneWeb, this event was the perfect inflection point for these discussions. We saw the public speaking debut of new OneWeb CEO Neil Masterson, who like others, answered many questions from the audience. It is going to be a tough act to follow, but in May we will try with the SATELLITE 2021: EMEA + Asia Digital Forum. This event will focus on the industry in a more global sense.

This edition, we celebrate the winners of our Satellite Executive of the Year (SEOTY) and Satellite Technology of the Year (STOTY) awards. Gwynne Shotwell, president of SpaceX, becomes our second two-time winner of our Satellite Executive of the Year. Via Satellite Managing Editor Rachel Jewett talks to Shotwell about life at SpaceX in 2020 and how the company was able to have such an incredible year despite operating through a pandemic. We also talk to Northrop Grumman about the astounding Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV) technology, which extends the life of satellites. It is another fine addition to our STOTY award which is seeing stronger competition each year.

Elsewhere in this issue, we look at the financial services market and how satellite can tap into this vertical further. On this topic, we take a deeper look at the interesting deal between ICEYE and insurance company Swiss Re, which was announced earlier this year. It is an illuminating case study and it is always great to see new companies get more involved in our industry.

As we slowly head into the second half of this year, I want to continue to wish you all the best and safe health and we look forward to hopefully seeing you in the second half of the year. It remains our privilege to continue to bring cutting edge digital events, news, podcasts, video conversations as well as other content to you. Thank you for your support.