Multi-Orbit Terminals and Service Make Progress, But Have Further to Go, Leaders Say

SATELLITE 2025 kicked off with a bang with a standing room only multi-orbit panel where executives from Intelsat, Eutelsat, Viasat, and Paradigm debated the future of satellite broadband.

One of the more interesting aspects of the panel was when Henry asked the panel to rate developments in terminals and multi-orbit services. The marks were at best average, at worst low. For example, in terminal development, Ian Canning, president and CEO of Eutelsat America Corp and OneWeb Technologies, rated it just 4 out of 10.

Canning added: “I think we are in for a really exciting time in terms of capability in the next six months or so. We have got much further to go.”

Mike DeMarco, Intelsat CCO, was slightly more generous saying terminal development was at 6 out of 10. Steve Gizinski, CTO of Viasat, only gave a score of 3 out of 10. Ulf Sandberg, managing director, Paradigm Communication Systems, said terminal development is either 3 or 4 out of 10.

Multi-orbit services fared slightly better. For example, Gizinski raised his mark from 3 in terminal development to a 6. DeMarco went to a 7 out of 10 as an example.

The industry is focused on making progress to make things easier for key customers. For Intelsat, its multi-orbit services in the in-flight connectivity (IFC) arena are a key barometer of its progress. DeMarco said that two years ago Intelsat started to think through how it was going to grow its IFC business, and launched a multi-orbit electronically steered antenna (ESA).

“We have really targeted this market [IFC]. We will have 700 planes by the end of the year [with this ESA]. We are focused on driving multi-orbit packages. Overall, multi-orbit is an incredibly important part of our strategy going forward,” he said. “The ESA product in aviation is already flying. We are already thinking of our next generation product and how we will bring new capabilities to the service.”

DeMarco highlighted the fact that Intelsat has invested in and is working with companies like Greenerwave and hiSky as it aims to be at the forefront of antenna development in this space. He believes the multi-orbit approach will find favor with customers.

He added, “We have moved from being a satellite operator and selling bandwidth, to now being a managed service provider. The customers don’t care how you are doing it. You might need complementary capabilities. The end user wants a quality service and that is what we aim to provide.”

Canning made the point that while multi-orbit services are a focus for today, it has been around for ages.

“Multi-orbit is a reliant capability. We are going through an interesting change in the industry. People have managed their own capability. It is now more an end-to-end service capability. It is tailored to the customer's needs. One size does not fit all. There is an awful lot of opportunity for all of us,” Canning said. “The advent of ESAs and the ability to have electronically shaped and steered capability with one terminal gives us a huge advantage. Things are moving in the right direction. It is fantastic we are seeing the technology evolve, but we have to think about resiliency and reliability.”

Canning added that he thinks ground networks and assets will combine in certain areas. Like others, he focused on customer needs. He added, “The customer does not care how you get it there. They care that the user experience has resilience and reliability. We can’t take that customer hat off. We need to be transparent and honest with that customer.”

Gizinski made an interesting point about there needing to be breakthroughs in areas such as power consumption. He said, “There is a need for things that are different in the future. I would highlight power consumption as a key area because these ESAs can be very power hungry. We need improvements there.”

While Sandberg talked about flexible solutions that are fueling the company’s growth, interestingly he called for more ‘impatience’ from customers to drive change. He said, “We want impatience [from our partners]. Customers should not have to wait three to four years for a solution. Things can be done very quickly if you have the right push.”

One of the interesting questions of the panel was talk of what was going on in Ukraine and how a satellite service could help people in this war-torn country if things take a turn for the worse with Starlink. Canning made the point that you should never be fully reliant on one service and that you have to be “careful” if you go down that route.

He added, “Starlink has done some great stuff. Ukraine has an incredible density there. Multi-orbit could have an impact there so you could deliver a total capability to the customer, and make sure they are protected. Ukraine has taught all of us a lot. Jamming has become a real thing there.”

Gizinski added that while Viasat is a global operator, and able to provide coverage in Ukraine, replacing 40,000 Starlink terminals “would be difficult.”

“In this case, if called upon, we would look at what we could do,” he said. “There is capability there. But it would take careful planning.” VS