Late September saw the fourth edition of the China Commercial Aerospace Forum, held in Wuhan, in south-central China at the intersection of the Han and Yangtze rivers. As an American who has spent most of my adult life of China, the conference took place at a fascinating time for me, in the midst of a potential trade war between my home country and my adopted home country.

Avanti Communications Group plc,  a provider of satellite data communications services in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, released results for the twelve months ending June 30, 2018. The company reported revenue for the six months to June 2018 increased 23% to US$ 29.9 million (2017: $24.3 million) while EBITDA for the six months to June 2018 increased to US$4.7 million from an EBITDA loss in 2017 of US$ 26.2 million.

Some of the highlights to 30 June, include:

Kacific Broadband Satellites has appointed John Hawker as vice president Sales, Melanesia and the Pacific. Hawker has held senior roles in both the telecommunications and satellite industries in several of Kacific’s key markets throughout the Pacific and South East Asia.

Akash Systems, focused on resolving the explosive growth of data consumption by enabling smarter and lighter satellite systems, has appointed Brian Holz as chief architect.

Holz brings extensive space satellite experience from his work directing the design and construction of satellite constellations for leading commercial organizations.

According to Euroconsult's latest report, Prospects for Splace Exploration, global government investment in space exploration totaled US$ 14.6 billion in 2017, a 6% increase compared to 2016. Fifteen leading space programs worldwide are estimated to contribute to this global investment with the U.S. accounting for 74% of the total.

Comtech Telecommunications announced today that Michael Porcelain, the company’s senior vice president, chief financial officer, has been promoted to chief operating officer.

Porcelain will be succeeded in his role by Michael Bondi, who is currently the company’s vice president, controller. These promotions are effective October 1, 2018.

Boeing completed the acquisition of Millennium Space Systems, a provider of agile, flight-proven small-satellite solutions. Millennium Space Systems will operate under Boeing Phantom Works as a subsidiary called Millennium Space Systems, A Boeing Company.

It will retain an independent operating model while benefiting from Boeing's resources, scale, manufacturing capability and technology research as the leading provider of aerospace products and services.

The World Teleport Association (WTA) today released Factoring 5G into the Future, a new research report detailing the opportunities and challenges of the coming deployment of 5G mobile for teleport and satellite operators. The report explains the technology, the industry partnerships shaping the standards and the market-specific opportunities that deployment will bring, from expansion of IoT to communication with moving vehicles to the next step in video distribution.

NSR’s M2M and IoT via Satellite, 9th Edition report forecasts smallsat M2M/IoT constellations are set to propel market growth via low latency, low cost, albeit low ARPU, service.  NSR’s first time forecast for this emerging smallsat market shows tremendous potential with 3.7 million M2M/IoT in-service units projected by 2027, representing 37% of overall satcom terminals.

According to the 25th edition of Euroconsult's report, Satellite Communications & Broadcasting Markets Survey, due to be published later in September, the FSS industry continues to move towards telecom/data markets, as wholesale revenues derived from video markets continue to erode.