The 2020 Satellite Industry Association state of the satellite industry report estimates a ground equipment market approaching $130 billion of the $271 billion global revenues.
What are the most significant satellite specific developments in ground systems and what new capacities can be expected in the near future.
With worldwide networks involving thousands of satellites, what’s new in the area of distributed systems networks and how can the market be expected to grow in the near future? Providers of ground equipment and services compete on breadth and quality of service. Ground systems for smallsats need fully integrated systems, which are fully motorized and capable of auto-acquisition. These systems need to deal with a variety of orbits from LEO through GEO.
Steve Kaufman
A corporate partner and satellite practice co-head, Steve Kaufman uses industry knowledge and versatility to negotiate and close many types of deals globally.
For 18 of his 30 years at the firm, Steve served as outside general counsel for satellite clients, leading strategic joint ventures, “bet-the-company” contracts, financings, and M&A.
What Steve does best: understanding complex business issues and translating them into legal documents. If a client can describe something, Steve can draft it. Working from complicated to simple, he has many times reduced a lengthy contract into a few pages of bullet points, showing the client what it needs and how to obtain it. He has even written a business and financing model for parties in the form of an agreement. Many clients comment that the business guidance from Steve is as valuable as the legal advice.
Steve relies on his familiarity with issues common to satellite and communications companies to give him an edge in negotiations. This experience produces extra benefits when Steve deals with specialized satellite contract terms, targeted warranties, creative covenants, use of insurance to close gaps, license and spectrum issues, and even finance and accounting matters. According to Chambers Steve Kaufman is “a real authority and somebody who will always know the answer.”
In advising clients, Steve emphasizes practicality, striving to achieve the client’s business objectives for the transaction, whether economic, risk reduction, regulatory/compliance, or transaction speed. This carries over into deal management as well as negotiations, where he willingly takes the lead. Steve and satellite practice co-head Randy Segal are regulars at the satellite conferences, making connections among clients and even adverse parties. He is listed in Chambers, Super Lawyers, and Legal 500.
Dan Adams
Dan Adams is Head of Business Development and Sales for KSAT Inc. at Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT). Prior to joining KSAT, Dan previously led business development for civil space programs at United Launch Alliance (ULA). A space enthusiast, Dan is energized by the mission and the positive impacts space enables in our everyday lives.
KSAT is a world-leading provider of ground station services for satellites, rocket launchers, and experimental spacecraft. With over 50 years of experience, KSAT’s network today spans over 180 antennas at over 20 ground station locations across the globe (including Pole to Pole coverage from Antarctica to the Arctic) and is constantly expanding. KSAT is proud to be the behind-the-scenes bridge back to earth, supporting the vast majority of space companies, agencies, and start-ups.
Rob Call
Rob Call challenges the status quo in commercial space industry. He is versed in smallsat design, manufacture, launch and operations. He is particularly interested in the development of virtual networks which dynamically integrate both ground and space nodes.
Rob was a pioneer in CubeSats, where he evangelized the elevation of CubeSats from kits to turnkey spacecraft for sophisticated government customers. More recently Rob promoted Swedish Space Corp’s ground station business in the Americas.
Rob began his career at Bain & Company in Palo Alto, Boston and Moscow offices. While in Eastern Europe, Rob developed large, highly profitable consumer products businesses.
He brought his pioneering energy to space, challenging convention and business models. His interest in space, his interest in Russia, and in international cooperation all stem from one event: Apollo-Soyuz.
A graduate of Stanford University, he completed dual majors in Economics and Russian Literature. He earned an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Rob is driven by units which are measured in dollars rather than in milliamps or micro-radians and believes that human capital, not technology, is what makes the world better.
He holds a current amateur radio license and SCUBA certificates as well as expired sky-diving credentials. He speaks Russian and is a fan of Mariinskiy ballet.
Dr. Rajeev Gopal
Dr. Rajeev Gopal, vice president, at Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES), leads the company’s advanced engineering programs, developing innovative solutions for resilient and protected communications in defense applications. Dr. Gopal’s work spans Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Geostationary Orbit (GEO) High-Throughput Satellite (HTS) technologies, leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), cloud, and cyber security innovations.
In more than 25 years at Hughes, Dr. Gopal has held a variety of leadership roles in satellite network systems engineering and software development. Most recently, he has focused on AI/ML, software-defined networking, 5G, and enterprise management architectures. Prior to joining Hughes, Dr. Gopal led automation projects for clinical and cancer research and development at CTIS.
Dr. Gopal holds several patents and has published more than 40 technical papers. A member of the IEEE 5G World Forum, he serves on the editorial board of Wiley’s International Journal of Satellite Communications and Networking (IJSCN). Dr. Gopal earned a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Computer Science from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and a Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Electrical Engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS) in Pilani, India.
Consumers, businesses, governments and communities around the world benefit from the connected experiences enabled by Hughes technologies and services. To learn more, visit our website at www.hughes.com or follow us on Twitter @HughesConnects and on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/HughesConnects
Shayn Hawthorne
Mr. Shayn Hawthorne works in the AWS Region Services Division as the Colorado Lead, Space Technical Lead, and General Manager of the AWS Ground Station service. In this role, Shayn works backward with commercial and Government space customers around the world. Shayn is focused on developing services and features that disrupt how space and intelligence operations are conducted and enabling space customers to share, fuse and leverage space data to improve their missions and products.
Prior to AWS, Shayn worked at the MITRE Corporation. In his last role, Shayn served as the Technical Director of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), responsible for directing the engineering activities of MITRE engineers in support of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) Program, Command and Control Battle Management and Communications (C2BMC) System, the Ballistic Missile Defense Overhead Persistent Infrared Architecture (BOA) and the Midcourse Tracking System (MTS) and many other programs.
Previously, Shayn led the MDA Space Knowledge Center as the Technical Director, which performed independent technical assessments and evaluated experiments related to MDA space programs. In previous MITRE work efforts, Shayn has led Advanced Development efforts for Air Force space situational awareness, missile warning, and missile defense sensors, as well as the Command and Control (C2) systems and correlator/tracker systems responsible for detecting and tracking air, space and missile threats to the United States and Canada.
Additional MITRE efforts include developing the Satellite as a Sensor concept and leading the start-up of the Rapid Attack Identification Detection Reporting System. Shayn was personally requested to support DoD Space System Vulnerability analyses that led to the National Security Space Protection Policy. He also played a critical role in starting the Space Radar program, focusing on theater tasking and Ground Moving Target Indicator data.
As a member of the Air Force Reserve, Shayn volunteered to mobilize in support of OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM (OEF) and fielded a satellite protection system while leading the Defensive Counter-space Testbed (DTB). Shayn supported the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and Electronic Security Command (ESC) as an Active Duty Air Force Officer.
Shayn received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Engineering Mechanics from the United States Air Force Academy and a Master of Science Degree in Astronautical Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology.
Sam Peterson
Mr. Peterson is a Business Development Director for the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC). He has more than 20 years of industry experience supporting ESA, NASA, military, and commercial space missions. SSC is a global provider of advanced space services. Offering the world’s most flexible, high performance, global ground station network, SSC provides reliable access to spacecraft from single satellites to constellations, from LEO to Lunar and beyond. Our partners trust SSC to manage all necessary ground network services. With more than 50 years of experience, SSC is the first company in the world to offer communication services to lunar missions with regular lunar contacts for more than a decade.
Greg Quiggle
Greg Quiggle currently serves as the Vice President, Product Management at Kratos, where he is responsible for overall product strategy and ongoing lifecycle management of Kratos’ commercial product portfolio.
Prior to joining the team, Quiggle served as the Vice President of Emerging Products for VT iDirect, during which time he played an instrumental role in developing the company’s 5G/SDN strategy and ecosystem. Additionally, he has served as the Executive Vice President of Marketing for Tollgrade Communications and the Vice President of Marketing for Acterna Corporation (now Viavi). In these roles, he has spent over 25 years conceptualizing and executing successful, corporate-level product/technology strategies within the communications industry.
Quiggle has earned a BS of Electrical Engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from the University of Maryland