Satellite Executive of the year 2009: The nominees are...

Khalid Balkheyour, CEO, Arabsat

Arabsat is expected to post double-digit percentage increases in revenues and profits, as operational revenues jumped from $157 million in 2008 to $192 million in 2009, and EBIDTA improved 68 percent in the same period.

But the numbers tell only part of the story engineered by CEO Khalid Balkheyour, who has positioned the satellite operator for growth in a time of high demand in the Middle East. The operator has embarked on a strategy to expand its constellation, with Arabsat 5A and BADR-5 (Arabsat 5B) scheduled for launch in 2010 with most of their capacity already sold. The expansions is needed, as Arabsat capacity utilization has reached 90 percent on some satellites and 100 percent on others.

Arabsat also expanded its Arabsat TV platforms throughout the region, adding Al Jazeera Sports and other bouquets to its lineup and unveiling plans to rollout HDTV in 2010 and finalizing Ka-band broadband service on future satellites.

Along with satisfying capacity demands, Arabsat is working with Newtec and the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) to develop Multimedia Exchange Network Over Satellite (MENOS) in the Middle East, an IP-based networking concept for the exchange of multimedia content over satellite. It allows ASBU’s 28 members to share video and audio material among scattered sites in a fully automated and cost-efficient manner. In October, Newtec also signed a cooperation agreement with Arabsat to develop new markets and technologies to implement DTH, TV contribution and distribution, IP connectivity over satellite, and occasional TV and radio exchange services throughout the Middle East.

Arabsat also is among the regional satellite operators that are expanding beyond their traditional boundaries, as it expanded operations and offerings into Africa and parts of Asia.

Eric Beranger, CEO, Astrium Services

Building a strong business in the European government and institutional services market is a tough ask, but Eric Beranger has built Astrium Services into a vital part of Astrium’s business in the space sector. A strong contender for the 2008 Satellite Executive of the Year award, Beranger has done little to suggest that his efforts a year ago where just a one-time event.

Astrium Services will meet its numbers for 2009, posting improved revenues and profits, and the operations are seen as a key profit center within Astrium. Astrium Services also continues to add to its list of key contracts, with perhaps its most impressive 2009 deal signed with the French Ministry of Defence’s telecommunications operator, DIRISI, to become the agency’s sole private sector supplier of fixed satellite services. This four-year contract sees Astrium Services provide French forces around the globe with civil (Ku-, Ka- and C-band) and military (UHF- and X-band) satellite telecommunications services that complement the Syracuse military satellite network.

Beranger also masterminded an agreement for Spot Infoterra, part of Astrium Services, to supply Serbia with a national spatial data infrastructure. Beranger also secured contracts with Intelsat General to supply services to the U.S. Department of Defense. Astrium Services also delivered the first set of secure satellite communications equipment based on Astrium’s Mini-Scot naval terminal to Aselsan for MILGEM, a Turkish Navy program.

Astrium Services also has announced that it will fund Spot 6 and Spot 7 Earth Observation satellites. Previous Spot satellites had been funded by CNES (the French Space Agency) before Astrium acquired Spot Image in 2008. This purchase strengthens Astrium Services’ presence in the Earth observation value chain — satellites, spaceborne and airborne data, ground segment, application solutions, and information management and distribution