Regional satellite operators at SATELLITE 2023’s roundtable expressed optimism about LEO constellations raising satellite’s profile, while noting pricing pressure and the enduring advantages of GEO.
Hispasat CEO Miguel Angel Panduro welcomed the constellation buzz: “Our people are looking for decent services in the market, and now people who know nothing about space are paying attention. There are investors and a good atmosphere for investing in space — and this is good for everybody.” Arabsat CSO Abdulhadi Alhassani agreed: “That celebrity factor made satellite a household name. We’re getting more and more use cases coming up.”
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ABS Global CEO Amit Somani cautioned that certain regions are “becoming less of a focus today,” with macro pricing pressure on GEO operators. He also noted customer contract lengths are shortening: where five-year deals were standard, now customers ask for year-by-year arrangements.
Avanti CEO Kyle Whitehill said LEO competition has been a forcing function: “It’s made us way more conscious of our position, way more conscious of what we’re delivering to customers.” He noted that disruption in telecom typically happens slowly and drew parallels to voice-over-IP predictions from the early 2000s that never materialized as dramatically as feared.
Alhassani said Arabsat has not lost significant business to LEO constellations: “What we’ve seen is more business coming because of that.” He noted that in many regions, sovereignty and security concerns mean governments don’t want to rely on foreign-operated LEO constellations: “When it comes to criticality and control, you can’t replace the GEO — it’s always there.” VS
