Satcoms Innovation Group Announces Winners of 2025 SIG Awards

Washington, DC, March 11, 2025 – The Satcoms Innovation Group (SIG) has announced the winners of the 2025 SIG Awards at the Satellite show in Washington, D.C. The awards celebrate outstanding and innovative technologies and solutions, as well as exceptional contributions within satcom. This year’s winners are:

• Innovation of the Year: Mission Microwave Technologies, LLC
• Best Cooperation: Kacific Broadband Satellites Ltd.
• Educational Project of the Year: Space Skills Alliance
• Young Engineer of the Year: Lukas Nyström: Satcube AB

Helen Weedon, SIG Managing Director, commented: "The standard of entries for this year’s awards has been outstanding, reflecting the rapid innovation and transformation taking place within the satellite industry. Each entry was of the highest standard, which made selecting the winners extremely difficult. Congratulations to all the winners for their well-deserved recognition, and a heartfelt thank you to everyone who submitted an entry.”

Mission Microwave Technologies won the Innovation of the Year award for its one-kilowatt Hub mount Ku-band BUC (Block Upconverter). The solution brings a long-awaited benefit to satellite uplink operators by replacing a fleet of high-power amplifiers with a single reliable unit. The compact energy efficient design of the product completes a fifty-year long technology evolution from tube-based amplifiers, to arrays of solid state amplifiers, to a single hub mounted unit that replaces an entire shelter full of amplifiers. The technology dramatically shifts the capital, power distribution and real estate requirements to dramatically reduce the footprint of an uplink antenna while simultaneously reducing its initial capital cost.

Kacific Broadband Satellites was awarded the Best Cooperation award for its work transforming the Asia-Pacific region by providing affordable, high-speed internet to underserved areas. Through its innovative services, like the Gigstarter prepaid model, Kacific enhances access to education, healthcare, and business opportunities. With over 600 ISP partners, distributors, resellers, and a dedicated team, Kacific delivers solutions that have drastically reduced internet costs. By expanding into tower management services and forming key partnerships, Kacific continues to bridge the digital divide, achieving both commercial success and social impact, offering sustainable solutions to local challenges across 25 countries.

Think tank, consultancy, and backbone organisation Space Skills Alliance won the Educational Project of the Year award for its work addressing space skills shortages. In 2024, Space Skills Alliance launched the 2024 Space Census and the Space Skills Roadmap 2030, and ran the first Space Skills Summit, UK’s first space skills conference. Space Skills Alliance also runs Space Careers which provides resources for skills and career development, a jobs board with all the latest opportunities in the sector, as well as delivering events across the country to raise awareness of career options and paths into them.

Lukas Nyström from Satcube was recognised as Young Engineer of the Year. Lukas joined satellite terminal provider Satcube in 2017 as a systems engineer and quickly rose through the ranks. In 2022, at just 25 years old, he became CTO, leading the development of Satcube’s next-generation user terminals. Much of this work is focused on antenna and RF subsystem research and development, targeting low-cost solutions to enable global broadband. Lukas holds a M.Sc. in Engineering Physics, and a M.Sc. in Accounting and Financial Management, which enables him to bring exceptional insight that merges both disciplines, acting as a bridge between the two fields. Lukas is fantastic role model for all young engineers in the industry.

SIG is hosting and attending a number of events throughout 2025. Find out more here.

SIG Director, Angela Wheeler presenting the Innovation of the Year award to Steve Richeson, Mission Microwave Technologies.

About SIG
With an era of new requirements upon us, such as request fulfilment and incident management, the Satcoms Innovation Group (SIG) aims to promote innovation in the satellite communication industry to improve operational efficiency and reduce impact, saving time and money. As an open forum to generate innovative thinking, it enables the industry to come together and discuss current challenges. This helps manufacturers and service providers to deliver innovations and solutions that respond more precisely to those challenges. Those solutions will then be promoted through SIG channels, including events, website, social media, and in discussions with SIG’s industry network. For more information, please visit; https://satig.space/