Hurricane Sandy dominated the news as we watched it unfold and saw the trail of destruction left in its wake. Thanks to satellite technology, we are better able to predict the impact of such natural disasters and minimize the loss of life as much as humanly possible. But, it is a fight that is virtually impossible to win. There is only so much technology can do when the full force of Mother Nature is unleashed. The satellite images that came from NASA and NOAA have been vitally important in predicting the path of the hurricane and helping people and communities get ready for this event.

Satellite technology really comes into its own at a time like this. It is almost scary to think what might happen if we didn’t have it available. Whether it is the Tsunami in Japan, the Earthquake in Haiti or Hurricane Sandy in the United States or any natural disaster that causes billions of dollars of damage and devastates communities and families, disaster recovery is a very important responsibility for our industry. Some of the most heartening stories I hear in this industry are about how satellite communications played in role in these disaster recovery efforts. People from the satellite community are often first on the scene, re-establishing communications links, and it is often thanks to their hard work that lives are saved, damage is lessened, and communities start to rebuild.

As it is our December edition, our thoughts now invariably start to turn to SATELLITE 2013, as well as to our own Satellite Executive of Year Award for 2012, which will be announced at the show. Matt Desch, CEO, Iridium Communications deservedly won the award last time around, and now we have to start to think who may win the most prestigious award in our industry. We are now taking submissions. Please feel free to nominate who you might think is a deserving recipient of this award. You can make nominations at: www.satellitetoday.com/nominations/. It never gets any easier, as we are seeing a wave of creativity in our industry and some highly ambitious plans by a number of companies. We would also be delighted to hear your thoughts on this subject. We now have a Via Satellite Linkedin Discussion Group. We would love you to participate in a discussion with us on who you think has been a standout performer in our industry in 2012.

We also have an exciting pay-per-view webinar coming in December. We all know the maritime market is a hot one for satellite right now, as cruise ship operators, as well as commercial shipping operators, look to beef up their IT communications infrastructure. We are delighted to have speakers from Royal Caribbean International and Buss-Data GmbH, the IT partner of shipping company Reederei Buss, taking part in the webinar. These two speakers will be able to offer some really interesting insights into how these companies want to use satellite technology going forward. This will be a really exciting web event, and being as this is the first webinar we have done which covers the maritime market, it will offer everyone that takes part a unique opportunity to interact with some major players here.

On a lighter note, I cannot fail to mention Felix Baumgartner, whose space jump was absolutely spectacular on every level and watching someone perform that jump from space was really edge-of-the-seat stuff. Not only was it incredible to watch but it also shows how space can really capture the world’s imagination. It was one of the most talked about events of the year, joining several other space-related topics in that category. Hopefully, events like Baumgartner’s space jump also will capture the imaginations of young people across the world to be part of the space community. As recent events show, the space community can make a real difference.