Opinion

AI is entering a different phase in Earth Observation. What began as experimentation on curated datasets is now moving into operational use, where models are expected to keep working across […]

We’re closing out this edition of Via Satellite in the days after SATShow Week, before we head to Space Symposium. One of my biggest takeaways from SATELLITE x GovMilSpace is […]

In the logic of national security, an offset strategy is the decisive move: a technological or organizational advantage that neutralizes an adversary’s numerical or geographic strength. The nuclear deterrent of […]

The satellite communications market has evolved rapidly over the past four years. As SpaceX’s Starlink has racked up not just hundreds, but even thousands of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites […]

In contested and denied environments, beyond-line-of-sight connectivity is often the only remaining link for command and control, mission execution, and safety-of-life communications. For U.S. military platforms operating at the tactical […]

“The Space Force was established … in recognition of one key fact: space is a warfighting domain,” Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations, recently testified. He added that […]

This year is already off to a bold start, shaping up to be one of the most interesting ones of the current decade. We have already seen a slew of […]

Over the past five years, Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite connectivity has gone from concept to reality. Today, airline passengers stream Netflix over oceans, cruise goers video call from the Arctic […]

The space sector enters 2026 in a state of profound acceleration. What was once a steady march of technological progress has become a rapid, multidimensional transformation driven by geopolitical urgency, […]

An increasingly volatile geopolitical landscape is forcing nations to rethink space — fast. Alliances once assumed to be stable now look precarious. Supply chains once described as “global” now reveal […]

The established wisdom holds that satellite hacking is challenging for malicious actors due to the complexities of satellite infrastructure and the need to compromise multiple systems simultaneously. However, if insiders […]

Even today, with space in the news almost daily, most still picture its future in simple if spectacular terms: rockets blasting off at the end of a countdown, colonies on […]

Fueled by strategic direction and an impending near-peer conflict, the Pentagon is creating resilient transport diversity across multiple constellations. Projects like the Army’s Multi-Orbit Modem, the Space Force Commercial Satellite […]

For the better part of a decade, the promise of satellite-to-handset connectivity has sat somewhere between trial and theory. With the first commercial direct-to-device (D2D) constellations now scaling up and […]

2025 marks a defining moment for satellite direct-to-device (D2D). D2D is evolving from a niche emergency service to a scalable communications model, linking smartphones, IoT devices, and businesses through satellites. […]

For decades, the satellite industry has relied on astronauts as our primary recruitment tool. The logic was straightforward: inspire kids with images of humans floating in space and driving on […]

Transformative deep tech innovation is the key to unlocking value from the emerging space ecosystem – and there’s no doubt in my mind that the telecoms industry will play a […]

In the mid-2000s, when the commercial space sector had significantly fewer active systems than today, space cybersecurity was not a major concern for systems engineers. Instead, the focus was on […]

The Golden Dome multi-layered missile defense initiative marks an inflection point in national security strategy. Plans are for a comprehensive defense involving constellations of satellites, advanced space-based interceptors and ground-based […]

Secure satellite communications form the invisible backbone of modern defense operations, quietly enabling missions and connecting forces across the globe. Yet these systems are facing mounting challenges. From cyberattacks and […]

Non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) are poised to play an increasingly vital role in next-generation networks, with applications in 5G and 6G, as well as mission-critical communications and defense. Comprising base stations […]

The space sector was historically dominated by states and state actors for defense and research. But recent private investment in the sector has changed that notion. As of July 2024, […]

As the Pentagon increasingly depends on commercial space capabilities for sensing, transport, and resilience, a new frontier is emerging. A frontier where commercial satellites don’t just inform the battlefield but […]

The Via Satellite team has just come back from World Space Business Week. We had the opportunity to host a fantastic happy hour thanks to our good friends at Umbra, […]

The satellite industry, once the exclusive playground of superpowers and select multinational corporations, is undergoing a seismic shift. At the heart of this transformation is the Golden Dome initiative, a […]

Government and industry approaches to a new age of space innovation are converging more quickly today than ever before. Private companies are far outpacing governments in launching satellites into Low-Earth […]

When the Wagner Group turned its guns against Moscow on June 23, 2023, the world watched a mercenary group openly defy the Kremlin. Just days later, on June 29, a […]

A realistic appraisal of China’s potential in space requires us to suspend the natural but distortive habit of projecting our own views onto another. This is one of the great […]

As a ground-breaking initiative, the new EU Space Act aims to create a new framework for space safety, sustainability and resilience, and promote investment in the sector. The result will be […]

Welcome to the September edition of Via Satellite. This edition has a fantastic lineup of features touching on some of the most important issues driving the conversation in the satellite […]