Via Satellite's Satellite Executive Of The Year 2006: Our Nominees Are...

The ONES to Watch

The performances of several executives have set their companies up to achieve great things in the coming year. Here are some industry executives to watch in 2007:
Both Romain Bausch, president and CEO of SES Global, and David McGlade, CEO of Intelsat, wrapped up major acquisitions in 2006 that position their respective companies as the two unquestioned global Fixed Satellite Services behemoths. The challenge in 2007 will be to convert their new-found size into business gains.
Pradman Kaul, CEO of Hughes Network Systems faces a similar challenge. The company emerged as an independent, publicly traded entity at the beginning of 2006 and in March introduced its new HughesNet brand. Now Kaul faces the challenge of leading the provider of broadband satellite network solutions to new heights.
WildBlue Communications Inc. had trouble keeping up with demand for its satellite broadband service in 2006, but the company should be able to solve that problem following the December launch of the WildBlue-1 satellite. Now CEO Dave Leonard must find a way to satisfy his investors as well.
The competition between Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio continues to garner daily attention, and after a year in which Sirius closed the subscriber gap, the two companies will be closely scrutinized again in 2007. Mel Karmazin, CEO of Sirius, is credited with bringing even more attention to satellite radio, and the world is watching to see if he can engineer a rumored merger.
Elon Musk, CEO of Space Exploration Technologies, gained publicity for the failure of his Falcon 1 rocket, which crashed less than a minute into its inaugural mission in March. But among the small companies that have unveiled plans for new rockets, none have come as close as Musk to achieving their goal, and he plans to try again in 2007.
Another launch executive who will be closely watched is Frank McKenna, president of the leaner International Launch Services. While launches of Russian Proton rockets have formed the bulk of the company’s business throughout the past several years, it will be up to McKenna to keep the company viable without the support of Lockheed Martin Corp.
The remaining two commercial satellite imagery competitors are in a race to place the first next-generation spacecraft in orbit. Both DigitalGlobe and GeoEye plan to have their advanced imaging systems in orbit before mid-2007, and that will set up a competition between Jill Smith, president and CEO of DigitalGlobe, and Matt O’Connell, CEO of GeoEye, to capture the larger share of the lucrative military market as well as develop a viable commercial business.