A panel of experts at SATELLITE 2018 agreed that the smallsat niche is still in its beginning stages. In order for smallsat players to stay relevant, the focus must remain on “execution, execution, execution,” emphasized Tyvak Nanosatellite Systems COO Marco Villa.
“We have to not fool ourselves that we’ve accomplished anything. We just achieved the possibility to be at the table and speak as grown adults,” Villa said.
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Elizabeth Driscoll, COO of GomSpace North America, noted that the attitude toward smallsats has changed due to improvements in technology. “Fifteen years ago, [smallsats] were toys. Now we can do really useful things — we can take pictures of the whole globe in a couple of hours.”
Shey Sabripour, CEO of CesiumAstro, said: “You have to have the right technology and timing. The market fit has to be there. And the business model has to be scalable. We feel that all of those things are finally happening.”
Villa noted that Earth Observation was “the hottest thing in town” for smallsat operators. Now EO is migrating from a fragmented paradigm “to more cohesive and autonomous dedicated solutions.”
Driscoll pointed out that 2018 will be significant due to the bevy of dedicated launchers on the verge of their commercial debuts. “If even one of those companies is successful, that’s a game changer for satellites. Cost is one thing — that’s manageable — the issue tends to be predictability and control.” VS
