Satellite manufacturing giants touted their commitment to agile development and spending on new capabilities like on-orbit refueling at Tuesday’s closing session of SATELLITE 2020, painting a rosy picture of a growing sector embracing innovation.
Northrop Grumman’s Frank DeMauro highlighted the company’s Mission Extension Vehicle-1, which carried out the first ever on-orbit docking by a commercial satellite. The MEV-1 docks with GEO satellites that have run out of fuel and serves as a propulsion system. “Certainly, customers were watching. … The case we can now make is that the system works, and it works well. … We see this new market growing fast in the commercial and government sectors.”
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Pascal Homsy of Thales Alenia Space noted: “Lots of operators have waited to make decisions. Now we have lots of customers with satellites coming to end of life.” Software-defined satellites are also powering growth, enabling flexibility from the ground that has never existed before.
Lockheed Martin’s Guy Beutelschies hailed the company’s software-defined satellite architecture SmartSat, Pony Express, which moved from conception to launch in nine months. The company is now working toward Pony Express 2.
Maxar Technologies CEO Daniel Jablonsky urged caution, acknowledging the tension between agility and reliability: “You want to nurture innovation and creativity, but at the same time, build things that meet triple-nine reliability standards.”
Airbus’ Jean Marc Nasr said cybersecurity is “the only thing that keeps me awake at night. … The day that someone takes control over our satellite, that trust will be gone.” VS
