Navigating SATELLITE: Days 2-4

With more than 330 panel and keynote speakers, 90 events and conference sessions, and 16,000 attendees from more than 100 nations around the world, SATELLITE 2019 is the biggest, most inclusive, and perhaps craziest week-long event we’ve ever produced! We already previewed the first day, so buckle in and enjoy the rest of the ride.

The second day of SATELLITE begins with our Tuesday General Session featuring the CEOs of the largest global satellite operators in the world — SES, Intelsat, Eutelsat, Telesat, and Viasat — directed by Via Satellite Editorial Director Mark Holmes and guest moderators from Southwest Airlines, Sprint, and SigFox. One of our longest-standing traditions, the global operator CEO session this year is set to cover a long list of critical issues shaping the commercial space industry’s largest end-user set. Topics include: innovation in video; how satellite services fit into Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) and Smart City ecosystems; cooperation and competition with terrestrial carriers; bandwidth resources for the 5G era; lowering the cost of the overall satellite connectivity infrastructure; and bridging the digital divide.

The exhibit hall then opens for its second day of business, shortly before the kickoff of our third annual Startup Space Entrepreneur Pitch Contest in the Exhibit Hall theater. Executive leaders from 14 startup aerospace firms seeking seed and Series A funding will compete for five private investor meetings, as well as for free admittance to the SATELLITE 2020 event and an interview in Via Satellite magazine. The Startup Space winners will be announced at the Wednesday Awards Luncheon, hosted by Via Satellite.

At 11:00 a.m. in Room 151, the Satellite Industry Association (SIA) will host National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Assistant Secretary David J. Redl as our 2019 Government and Military Forum Keynote Speaker. Redl will speak to attendees about U.S. broadband and wireless spectrum strategy, and the Administration’s view of wireless and telecom technology as an economic growth driver. We then break for our MSUA and WTA Awards Luncheons before launching (literally) into our annual Heavy-Lift Launch Service Providers panel and an afternoon conference program with sessions focused on advanced commercial imagery, sensing, and data services. The Tuesday conference program closes with a powerful session addressing how global space industry partners can maintain a collaborative spirit during a time of geopolitical tension and trade disputes. We are honored to host leaders from the European Space Agency (ESA), CNES, the U.S.-Saudi Business Council, International Launch Services (ILS), Aerojet Rocketdyne, and Cospas-Sarsat for such an important dialog.

On Wednesday at 8:00 a.m., we invite all SATELLITE 2019 badge-holders from the exhibit hall and conference to attend our Morning General Session, titled “Our Collective Role in Empowering Women and Cultivating Diversity in Aerospace.” As the world looks to our community for innovative leadership, we must also lead the way as one of the world’s most inclusive industries. This roundtable discussion, featuring a line-up of industry pioneers (including Kay Koplovitz, Founder of USA Networks and the first female broadcast chief executive in history, as well as executive leadership from National Science Foundation, ABS Global, Ball Aerospace, Stellar Solutions, Space Foundation, and Inmarsat Government), was assembled with the generous support of the Women in Aerospace (WIA) organization. The speakers will present data on aerospace workforce trends, identify solutions move the needle on diversity and inclusion, and share success stories of diverse teams, technologies, and architectures.

Wednesday’s main conference program features highlight sessions, including “NGSO and the New Smallsat Rockets,” “Factoring 5G into the Future of Satellite Service Providers,” and “In-Flight Connectivity: Next-Generation Service from New Satellites.”

Via Satellite’s Wednesday Awards Luncheon at SATELLITE 2019 will reveal the winners for both the prestigious 2018 Satellite Executive of the Year Award and the inaugural 2018 Satellite Technology of the Year Award, and will mark the end of the first-ever live public vote for the two winners. All SATELLITE 2019 attendees can vote for the nominees of their choice online at www.ViaSatellite.com, or at the Via Satellite booth (#543 on the show floor). Voting closes at noon ET on Tuesday, May 7.

Day three closes strong with an all-enterprise end-user panel, “From the Outside Looking In: Industry 4.0 in Space,” featuring space-hungry Fortune 500 companies such as Mastercard, Siemens, DuPont, Merck, IBM Watson, and Deloitte. The group will share how they evaluate satellite assets and list what’s driving them (or preventing them) from investing in acquiring space capabilities. Topics on the discussion list include space as a cyber-security tool, evolving spacecraft materials, industrial IoT, and how space capabilities can improve operational efficiencies.

While the SATELLITE 2019 exhibit hall closes on Wednesday, the conference continues with arguably the strongest and most diverse program day of the week. The morning conference features two executive roundtable discussions that will provide five-year forecasts for both business in Geostationary Orbit (GEO) and Low Earth Orbit (LEO)/Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) orbits.

Thursday also includes a session on Space-Based Cloud Security, an “IoT of the Oceans” panel with Silversea and Carnival Cruiselines, Space Situational Awareness (SSA) and Life-Extension panels, as well as a dozen more discussion forums and presentations.

We hope you enjoy your experience with us this week and that you find our 2019 program to be the best we’ve ever assembled. We look forward to raising the bar for 2020 and welcoming you back next March! VS