Downlink 3 – Conference Updates

We’re just starting to roll out the conference program, but we’ve already confirmed more than 50 speakers for SATELLITE 2019! Here are just a few of our first speaker announcements:

Intelsat CEO Stephen Spengler, Telesat CEO Dan Goldberg, and ViaSat CEO Mark Dankberg will speak on our Tuesday opening general session, “Global Satellite Operators: The Future is Now,” appearing alongside special guest moderator, Southwest Airlines Product Development Manager Tara Bamburg. This year’s opening general session topics will include: innovation that operators are looking for up and down the supply chain; how satellite services fit into Industrial Internet-of-Things 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. SES CEO Steve Collar and Eutelsat CEO Rodolphe Belmer  are also expected to appear. Two additional guest moderators for the session will be announced soon!

Pamela Logan, Technical Analyst with the U.S. Department of Defense Contract Management Agency, will deliver a presentation that will share new strategies to sell commercial technology to government end-users on Monday, May 6 at 1:30 p.m. in Room 145. Pamela’s talk will explain the statutory framework and streamlined acquisition processes that allow commercial companies to avoid the burdensome paperwork that is so often associated with selling to the government, including how one goes about demonstrating that a product or service meets the statutory definition of “commercial.”

Immediately following, U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Economist Dr. Martin Zhu will share his latest research into “The Economic Impact of Mitigating Orbital Debris” at 2:00 p.m. By addressing issues of space congestions, debris spill-over costs and value of protected space regions, Dr. Zhu will argue a case for significant mandatory actions and post-mission disposal for final mission orbits proposed by the Standard Practices. His presentation will outline a dynamic model depicting societal benefits and mitigation costs along with a long-term perspective.

Airbus Defense and Space Executive Vice President Nicolas Chamussy and Thales Alenia Space Senior Vice President  Martin Van Schaik will talk about “Software-Defined Satellites for a Software-Defined Industry” on Tuesday, May 7 at 1:30 p.m. in room 146. This panel session will education attendees about initiatives which are being designed to allow operators to code for a platform and to design and run virtual machines on a satellite. Will satellite operators follow the model of consumer services like Netflix and Spotify – transforming themselves from traditional businesses into software companies liberated from physical constraints? Nicolas, Martin, and guests will explore the current state of software-defined satellite solutions as well as the blue sky ahead.

World Bank Lead ICT Policy Specialist Doyle Gallegos will appear with Airbus Commercial Space Director Emmanuel Sauzay to lead a case-study presentation “Innovative Satellite Services for Peru’s Connected Transportation Network,” on Wednesday, May 8 at 3:30 p.m. Airbus and the World Bank are partnering on a pilot project in Peru to propose innovative satellite-based connectivity in commercial buses driving on the roads of Peru. Not only broadband connectivity will be provided, but new digital services will be proposed, fostering the digital transformation of the local economy. This presentation will share the results of, and include video from this pilot project.

Spaceflight President Curt Blake, fresh off of the successful launch of his SSO-A mission with SpaceX, is the first speaker to confirm for our small satellite-focused “Launch Services Roundtable: NGSO and the New Smallsat Rockets,” on Wednesday May 8 at 9:30 a.m. in room 146. The second of our two launch roundtables will explore the new menu of launch options and address the challenges facing smaller launchers, including the tightening bottleneck, space debris and potential regulatory concerns, flexibility, and availability. A Heavy-lift, GEO orbit-focused launch roundtable will take place on Tuesday.

Finally, David Ball, Chief Executive Officer of the Space Environment Research Centre, will join ExoAnalytic Solutions’ Chief Space Situational Awareness Architect Brien Flewelling on a panel session, “Space Situational Awareness & Traffic Management,” on Thursday, May 9 at 9:30 a.m. This group discussion will explore new ideas and technologies that could allow space systems to operate safely within an increasingly congested space environment.

We also have speakers confirmed from NASA, ESA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Deloitte, MIT Media Lab, Northrop Grumman, Ball Aerospace and more! More details coming soon! Check out the conference program for updates!