New Kids On The Block Face Challenges

The satellite industry has become known for the stablility of its leadership. For example if you look at our Big Four FSS panel at SATELLITE 2013, three of the CEOs on that panel have been there for many years, with only Michel de Rosen of Eutelsat as the new face, though he is not so new to the industry anymore. Some key companies in our sector, however, have made changes at the top as they look to bring about a change of fortune in what is still a very competitive industry across the board.

Let’s look at some of those key changes during the past few months. Thales Alenia Space has recently appointed Jean-Loïc Galle as its new CEO and given there are only so many satellite orders to go around, the satellite manufacturing sector continues to be a tough place to do business. Also, with Boeing’s re-emergence in the commercial satellite sector, and the question as to whether or not satellite manufacturers need an electric-propulsion satellite offering, it will be interesting to see what Galle does here, given that Thales Alenia Space has had a tough 2012. The satellite manufacturing sector has seen other changes, as well. Eric Béranger is now the CEO of Astrium Satellites and faces the challenge of whether he can replicate the success he had as the CEO of Astrium Services. The changes in Astrium’s leadership with Evert Dudok (now CEO of Astrium Services) effectively completing a job swap is one of the most fascinating and highly unusual personnel changes in recent times in our sector.

Another high profile change has been Phil Slack replacing Frank McKenna as the new president of ILS. This is a highly significant change as the launch services market has been one to watch in recent times. The emergence of SpaceX has really shaken up this market, and the launch services panel at SATELLITE frequently has some of the sharpest exchanges. With the Proton vehicle having its fair share of setbacks in recent years, and with strong competition from both Arianespace and SpaceX, Slack will have his work cut out to improve ILS’s business. With ILS, SpaceX, Arianespace and Sea Launch occupying the same space, this sector is awash with competition.

Other new CEOs, while slightly longer on the job, are also facing key challenges. Rupert Pearce took over the reins of Inmarsat at the start of 2012, just ahead of the launch of the Global Xpress satellite system, which will begin to ramp up in earnest in 2013. The challenge will be to make this huge investment a success by getting sectors such as U.S. government, maritime and aero to buy into Global Xpress. You could argue with Inmarsat that the real hard work starts now and 2013 promises to be a key year for the company and Pearce’s tenure. Pearce is featured as our View From the Top this month, in which he talks about how he is shaping his own vision of Inmarsat’s strategy.

Suphajee Suthumpun has been the CEO of Thaicom for around 16 months now, and like Pearce, took over an operator business with a key future system – in this case, Ipstar – very much in place. With Asia still seen as a very dynamic market and Ipstar finally making some headway, where Thaicom goes from here will be interesting to watch. Thaicom has a unique story in Asia, having bet on satellite broadband a long time before anyone else, and with encouraging recent results, it will be interesting to see if Suthumpun can build on that progress.

Executive changes bring new ideas and excitement to our industry. They can bring vibrance and change. Often times, when a new CEO takes over, they are faced with a number of challenges and frequently have to execute a strategy that was put together by their predecessor. During the next year, I will certainly be following how Slack, Galle, Béranger/Dudok, Pearce and Suthumpun take their companies forward into the future. With perhaps a more entrepreneurial streak than ever before in our industry, all of these leaders bring their own individual perspectives on ensuring their companies maintain and develop success.