The Light Ahead for the Satellite Industry
by Lou Zacharilla
New York City, December 15, 2011--“Experience,” author George Will wrote, “is like the light on the back of a train. It reveals only where you have been, not where you are headed.” Yet as the year 2011 ends its service to the world, the satellite industry continued to quietly circle above it. Perhaps there is a wreck ahead, but 2011 did not reveal where it would come from. In 2011 our industry seemed above the economic climate that continued to derail the spirit of the business world as much as it had the material.
Instead, we kept our eyes on the downright uplifting. It was right to do so because the year was filled with memorable moments which if we pay attention, may show us possibilities for the path ahead.
In February, Arianespace celebrated its 200th launch. It was the company’s heaviest lift ever.
The birds we hurtled upward continued to do much social good. The year saw satellites continue to promise to connect more and more of the rural landscape through government fiat. This was one of the few ways national governments and nation-states demonstrated an inkling of wisdom. While satellites observe many things for many types of customers, they do not lie. The fact is none has ever detected an actual political border. Borders are drawn by politicians and allowed by people. But in 2011, the people, long-suffering in much of the world, found a voice and expressed it. Thanks to communications technologies and networks that our industry builds, runs and enables, we all had a chance to watch social revolutions come.
Thanks to satellites and the advances of increasingly ubiquitous SNG services, the ability to provide a constant ingestion of information had the effect of nudging from existence the crusty remains of tyrannies. The bent pipe of satellite and the lenses of the industry’s professionals in broadcasting and blogging allowed millions to vent their rage and throw the bums out. In the middle of winter an Arab Spring struck North Africa and ended with the assurance that governments led by Mubarak, Khaddafi and later Italy’s Berlusconi would no longer prevail. But the best was yet to come. Satellites, ever-neutral, allowed the world to cheer and find closure in May, when Osama bin Laden found himself having to settle accounts. Satellite was in Pakistan, or over it, when the architect of 9/11 was shown the door he had so violently slammed shut on others.
It was a good moment for the industry. Yet the industry still did not get much respect or capture imaginations because of it. So in June 2011, I convened four of the industry’s brightest lights to gather around this column to share their views on how Satellite, which brings light to so many dark and unlit corners of our planet, could engage imaginations. It was the start of an important dialogue that will continue through 2012.
During that discussion ViaSat’s Mark Dankberg, answered eloquently. Then, in October, he let his action back his words. We watched as the long-awaited Via-Sat 1 lifted-off. Detractors of his vision for the company’s planned Ka-band fleet are persistent but passing. Ka-band will fly, but will it make the satellite industry more appealing? No one knows. However, another voice from that roundtable, Newsat’s Adrian Ballintine, who was named WTA’s Teleport Executive of the Year, reported that his company will jump into the Ka-band mix as well with a bird called Jaibru-1. A few months later Eutelsat inked a deal to bring broadband to rural Egypt.
How will these new ventures fare in transforming Satellite from a neutral, nearly invisible industry to one that is seen as “sexy” again? Providing Internet and high-speed access is becoming routine, and so it is unlikely to capture the hearts and imaginations of the young any time soon. The young, frankly, have other things on their mind, especially when it comes to the Internet. In England it was reported that one-third of British youth learn sex education from the Internet rather than their parents or teachers. Ah-ha! Doesn’t this only prove that the Internet IS a constructive force for good? Not quite. The September report added that they are taking their “courses” from adult porn sites. I am not sure what the lesson is for our industry, or the future of our civilization for that matter. However, if you are a satellite professional who is also a parent, despair not. While sex education was being taught to British boys by Candy XXX and company, four other young people, who I assume received their education the old-fashioned way, received the Society of Satellite Professional’s 2011 Promise Award. The annual roast, better known as the Future Leaders Dinner, was, as it always is, a testament to hope and to humor.
One of the recipients, David Giger, is the Director for Dragon Spacecraft Development for SpaceX. While not yet old enough to serve as President of the United States, Mr. Giger leads a demanding program on which much of the company’s future depends. No small task for a company that will take over delivery of cargo to the International Space Station for NASA. Oh yeah, he is also the Director of Propulsion, which makes him the top engineer in the company and the go-to guy for the hypergolic engines used for altitude control. His big boss, Elon Musk, who in a former life developed a technology that allowed us to pay for stuff securely on the Internet, has placed his confidence on the Satellite industry’s fastest-rising executive star.
So the year ends well. We can look behind and conclude one thing for sure: the bright lights in this industry do not shine on themselves, or for their own glory. In the end, this is what makes Satellite the most fascinating and effective industry. The words “mission,” “team” and “Can Do,” are not clichés. They are the value-added. In 2011, while the rest of the world finally reached for a cup of strong, black coffee to sober itself from the excesses and narcissism that infected other industries and of other workplaces, Satellite stayed neutral and did what it does best. It let the world watch, do business and make-up its own mind about which way the train is headed.
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Lou Zacharilla is the Director of Development of the Society of Satellite Professionals International (SSPI). He can be reached at: LZacharilla@sspi.org
