Via Satellite announced Tina Ghataore, chief commercial officer of Mynaric, as winner of the 2021 Satellite Executive of the Year award, and Astroscale’s ELSA-d mission as winner of the 2021 Satellite Technology of the Year award. Dr. Luisa Buinhas of Vyoma won the annual Startup Space pitch competition. Winners were chosen by public vote and the Via Satellite editorial board.
Ghataore was instrumental in Mynaric’s commercial growth — opening a U.S. subsidiary, signing SpaceLink, Cloud Constellation, Capella Space, and Northrop Grumman as customers, and winning a DARPA Space-BACN contract. “20-plus years in the satcom industry has paid off in a big way! We have an amazing company and a fabulous team who make my job so much easier to bring optical communications to all of us,” she said in her acceptance speech.
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ELSA-d, launched in March 2021, became the world’s first active mission dedicated to demonstrating debris docking and removal. In less than a year, it set operational benchmarks for rendezvous and proximity missions. Chris Blackerby, COO of Astroscale, said: “The fact that this was voted on by the community means so much, that we are all recognizing the importance of space sustainability.”
Startup Space winner Vyoma has developed software using intelligent algorithms to process images, assess space traffic, and plan avoidance maneuvers. VS
