In 2021, the UK’s National Space Strategy was being touted as the catalyst that would enable “Galactic Britain”. Key to the plan were the country’s evolving launch capabilities. Indeed, the launch of Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne was heralded by the government as a key step in growing the country’s space industry. In the wake of LauncherOne’s failure to reach space and the subsequent shut down of Virgin Orbit, many are wondering, “what’s next”? We spoke with Paul Kostek, IEEE senior member and advisory systems engineer with Air Direct Solutions LLC to get his opinion on what the future holds.

The number of connected IoT devices is expected to reach more than 14 billion by the end of the year and nearly double by 2025. 4G and 5G network implementation is driving this growth, bringing the necessary latency and bandwidth to support connected technologies. But there’s an important caveat to this progress: 4G and 5G implementation is only happening at scale in urban environments. We asked Jonny Spendlove, Senior Product Manager of Connectivity at John Deere, to explain how satellite communications can bridge that gap and enable dramatic improvements in efficiency for farmers worldwide.

Founded in 2006, global startup accelerator Techstars helps early-stage companies to realize and actualize their potential and to super-charge their progress. The organization’s recent collaboration with the Saudi Arabian Communications, Space and Technology Commission saw the establishment of an intensive 10-week program that supported the development of innovative startups looking to expand upon Saudi Arabia’s space sector. The work aims to significantly advance the region’s space infrastructure and economy.

Unlike so many other industries, the satellite industry appears to have been reasonably resilient to COVID. The sector is as commercially buoyant today as it has ever been. There’s also an increased awareness of the applications of satellite technologies and this has led to the establishment of many national and international funding programs. Additionally, investors are recognizing the potential for a high return on
investment. This is all good news for the industry, and for startups.

MKU’s Cutting-Edge Protection Solutions are revolutionizing Europe’s security. The company is deploying advanced ballistic armor, shields, and platform protection to strengthen Europe’s security infrastructure.

Through geopolitical hesitancy and trade wars, the West has long kept a complex relationship with China. Though this indecision hasn’t waned quickly, the realities of global economics have been quick to discard old tensions in the interest of mutual growth. As the second largest economy in the world, China hasn’t missed out on the NewSpace boom, with companies such as Starwin participating in its growth. Speaking to Amelia Liu, the company’s COO, we discussed Starwin’s recent successes, and China’s future in the world of commercial space technologies.

Digital thread and digital twin technology is addressing challenges such as training, production speed and quality, problem prediction, cost, and complexity for both satellite and aerospace operations. We sat down with Greg Porter, Senior Systems Architect at Sev1Tech to find out not only how NASA is using this exciting new approach but also how digital thread and digital twin technology can revolutionize military operations.

Seafarers face many challenges to their physical and mental health due to working in a risky occupation with high job demands, long working hours, poor social support, and prolonged periods of time out at sea. While this applies to both civilian and military seafarers, naval personnel face further stresses. These include additional limitations on their ability to communicate with loved ones for operational purposes and the changes in operational tempo faced by many NATO nations over the last few years

Kratos’ vision for the digital transformation of the ground segment began a decade ago with the Earth Observation (EO) market and is now delivering for SATCOM as well. In 2020 the company introduced its OpenSpace platform which provides orchestrated virtual network operations. Today more than 100 networks deployed around the world use some element of OpenSpace, and the company has been collecting new customers for SATCOM, including Intelsat and US Government programs. We spoke with Greg Quiggle, Senior Vice President of Space Product Management at Kratos to learn more about the company’s current as well as future plans to support a dynamic, software-defined ground segment.

Government agencies and many different commercial industries can benefit from Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) which is now readily available. This is because SAR delivers high-quality imagery and data that is critical both to infrastructure planning and disaster relief.

Astroscale is a seminal success story that has become well-regarded in the West. As the disruptive golden child of Japan’s space economy, they’ve made great headway as an agile provider of de-orbiting technologies with great interest in courting the favour of NASA and ESA. Seeking a West-facing assessment of the Asian space market, we spoke to Chris Blackerby, their Group Chief Operating Officer and former NASA attache for the Asian continent to describe what he has seen from the region, and what he expects from it in the future.

After an incredible journey filled with showstopping challenges including a bankruptcy, a pandemic, and a war that swivelled a launch contract with Roscosmos into a $229.2 million impairment charge, OneWeb is now full steam ahead. With 618 satellites in orbit and a merger with Eutelsat in the wings, the company is poised for incredible growth. We spoke with Stephen Beynon, CCO of OneWeb to hear more about the company’s ambitious endeavours.