Via Satellite Announces Winners of 2024 Satellite Executive & Technology of the Year, and 2025 Startup Space Competition

Washington, D.C., March 13, 2025 - Via Satellite announced Emile de Rijk, CEO of SWISSto12 winner of the 2024 Satellite Executive of the Year Award; Agatha AI, Slingshot Aerospace, winner of the 2024 Satellite Technology of the Year Award; and Phemotron Systems winner of the 9th Annual Startup Space Competition during the Via Satellite Awards Luncheon at SATELLITE 2025.

Emile de Rijk, CEO of SWISSto12, is disrupting the GEO satellite market with the HummingSat GEO satellite platform. De Rijk’s vision for the Hummingsat is to strengthen the competitiveness and cost-effectiveness of GEO against increasing pressure from LEO constellations.

“The term ‘disruptor’ may be over-used, but Emile De Rijk, CEO of SWISSto12 is the very definition of a disruptor. He has seemingly done the impossible, propelling SWISSto12 to win satellite manufacturing contracts with the likes of Intelsat and Viasat/Inmarsat that used to be the exclusive domain of established industry players,” said Mark Holmes, Senior Editorial Director, Via Satellite. “It is one of the best examples of entrepreneurship in our sector and has created a new excitement in the satellite manufacturing space. SWISSto12 grew revenues by 40 percent in 2024 and Emile de Rijk is recognized for this growth and momentum as Satellite Executive of the Year for 2024.”

“It’s incredibly exciting. Especially for us at SWISSto12 having come from the bottom up as a startup here for the first time here 10 years ago,” said Emile de Rijk in a post-award luncheon interview. “And making it up to this recognition for contribution to the industry is really great.”

Slingshot’s Agatha AI is a groundbreaking system that identifies subtle spacecraft abnormalities and predicts future threats. Agatha evaluates data from thousands of satellites and provides next-level space domain awareness. This technology offers satellite operators cost-saving capabilities and demonstrates AI’s potential in space.

“Slingshot Aerospace’s Agatha AI is a stunning early example of how AI can make a difference in space. It is a system designed to pinpoint even the most subtle spacecraft abnormalities and predict future threats,” Mark Holmes, Senior Editorial Director of Via Satellite said. “Developed in partnership with The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Agatha is a unique AI application in the way it ‘finds a needle in a haystack.’ In 2024, the program identified numerous anomalies on satellites operated by nations like China and Russia. Its influence will impact the issue of space domain awareness and it is fully deserving of winning Via Satellite’s Satellite Technology of the Year Award for 2024.”

“First and foremost, as a CEO, not having written a single line of code, not having developed any large language models, I have a team of about 10 people within the company who have just done some incredible development,” said Tim Solms, CEO of Slingshot Aerospace in a post-award luncheon interview. “They brought a level of creativity and disruption to space in developing Agatha. And it really is game changing not only for national security but for any operators in space.”

Dr. Femi Ishola, Founder and CEO of Phemotron Systems, was named as the winner of the 9th annual Startup Space Competition. Femi competed against nine other global startups in a five-minute pitch contest judged by the most active investors in space.

Phemotron Systems is a multinational space company with operations in Nigeria, Japan, and the USA. It is developing and aiming to launch a 12U small satellite (CubeSat) platform called the AI-MotherBox-1, which is equipped with a high-performing AI engine that can execute data gathering tasks at superior high speeds than conventional CubeSats. The AI-MotherBox-1 artificial intelligence is capable of learning and adapting to the dynamic space environment in the Low-Earth Orbit.

“This was the most competitive Startup Space pitch event we’ve held in our nine-year history. Dr. Femi Ishola delivered a fantastic pitch that highlighted how Phemotron Systems’ CubeSat could potentially utilize existing ground infrastructure in Africa to distribute analytics and critical data to a wide variety of customers. He also explained how his company’s partnerships put it in a unique position to find success in Africa’s geopolitical landscape,” said Jeffrey Hill, SATELLITE 2025 Executive Chair. “This is a well-deserved win for Dr. Ishola and the Pemotron Systems team. Our congratulations go out to them and to all of the competitors who participated in this year’s pitch event at SATELLITE 2025. We look forward to next year’s competition, when we celebrate the 10th anniversary of Startup Space!”

SATELLITE 2025 brings together over 14,000+ attendees from 110+ countries, uniting a diverse community of aerospace and connectivity leaders, entrepreneurs, executives, engineers, end-users, and enthusiasts for the industry’s largest and most influential global event. This year, with the debut of GovMilSpace, SATELLITE expands its reach to address the needs and priorities of the defense sector. Join us March 23-26, 2026, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.SATShow.com.