NEWSLETTER - World Space Risk Forum - 2016 · 2017-02-14 · connectivity, which is increasingly becoming a “human right’’. Satellites can then be the cornerstone and the disruptor

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LONDON CALLING Registration is now open for the WSRF 2017 Event in London on 15th June. This day event, in association with Seradata, has a full packed agenda with many leading industry speakers lined up over four main sessions; New Rockets on the Block, Space Systems Technology Innovations, Space Risks Management - Pushing the Frontier, Debris and Servicing: Dangers and Opportunities. SEE PAGE 10 FOR FURTHER DETAILS

Space-time is relative but time to market is still a life and death matter for satellite operators. Our contributors for this month’s newsletter all agree that their biggest risk in a very competitive and

changing environment is becoming irrelevant or obsolete. Innovation is duly regarded as the mean and the medium to addressing these challenges. Innovation focused on providing reliable, dependable and competitive access to Space together with more flexible satellite systems and ground equipment

is therefore strongly emphasized as a requirement to securing their contribution towards universal connectivity, which is increasingly becoming a “human right’’. Satellites can then be the cornerstone

and the disruptor of a transforming digital economy thus enabling long term industry growth and future.With the prospect of many exciting subjects and opportunities in the space business for thought and

discussion, I am delighted to be appointed the Chairman of the WSRF 2017 event in London which is being held in association with Seradata on the 15th June and look forward to seeing you there.

DENIS BENSOUSSAN, HEAD OF SPACE RISKS, BEAZLEY

worldspaceriskforum.com

NEWSL ETT ERM A RCH 2 017, THE OPERATOR ISSUE

STEPHEN SPENGLER

CEO, INTELSAT

MARK DANKBERGCEO, VIASAT

MATTHEW DESCHCEO, IRIDIUM

CARLOS ESPINÓS GÓMEZ

CEO, HISPASAT

THE LEADERS, INSIDE THIS ISSUE WE INCLUDE INTERVIEWS WITH:

I N T R O D U C T I O N

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Q When Intelsat EpicNG was first announced, one of the driving factors was the view that this technology would expand the existing network services and mobility markets. Now that the Intelsat fleet includes EpicNG class satellites, what types of market expansion have you witnessed, those that were foreseen and unforeseen?

A If you go back four years, cruise ship operators were only

able to offer passengers limited broadband connectivity via

satellite. Generally speaking, the service was expensive and

not that robust. With the introduction of our Intelsat EpicNG

satellites, the cruise sector has brought some of the biggest

commitments in the history of our business. This is because

we can deliver much higher rates of throughput, enabling a

passenger Internet experience that was not possible before. At

the right cost per bit, we have enabled a new business model.

Passengers are willing to pay for an Internet experience on par

with that in their homes and businesses. This has supported a

dramatic business expansion for our maritime service providers.

The mobility sector continues to generate new applications, and

we can now offer high performing satellite services that support

these applications with better economics and simplified access.

The connected car wasn’t more than an idea until recently—I

will admit that wasn’t at the core of our vision for Intelsat EpicNG

when we started design of these satellites several years ago. But

with the higher performance of Intelsat EpicNG and the new

antenna development that we support, we now envision a very

robust new market. Antennas from Kymeta, an Intelsat partner, are

designed for vehicles – cars, buses, trucks – anything that moves.

We see new service models that will serve manufacturers and

benefit consumers. This will change the way we think about cars.

This is what we mean when we talk about the three elements

necessary to unlock new business: higher performing satellites,

better economics, and simplified access. Combined, they will

allow us to unlock larger and faster growing applications.

Q Last year, Intelsat announced a transformation from a global satellite operator to a globalized network service provider. What have been some of the major challenges in this transition in terms of changing the operational culture of the company, working with new terrestrial partners and/or addressing customer perceptions/experience?

A As you know, Intelsat as a company has been global virtually

from its inception. We adopted the “Globalized Network”

branding to emphasize that in the new telecom landscape,

the end users of our services are operating in a globalized

environment. These individuals or organizations, regardless

of where they are on the planet, have immediate access to

information and content regardless of where this information

resides or is originated. Our global network and services

globalizes their experience, thus the Globalized Network.

Many of our customers, especially those in the mobility,

enterprise, government and media space, operate on a

global basis every day. We wanted to emphasize our ability

to support them wherever they need to do business and allow

them to reach end-users with a consistent and reliable high-

performance global network made up of our satellites, our

ground stations, and our robust terrestrial fiber infrastructure

and most importantly our highly reliable services.

As for the operational culture of our company, people who

come to work at Intelsat know from day one that we are a global

company with our colleagues, customers and partners all over

the world. That has not changed.

Q The Trump administration’s space policy has a strong direction towards privatization of space activities to encourage competitiveness and entrepreneurship across the industry. What type of impact (net positive/negative) do you think this will have on a globalized network provider and which particular segment(s) do you think have the most to gain?

A We already have a very competitive commercial satellite

industry, one that the U.S. and other governments rely on for

global and regional operations. A lot of the new push toward

Intelsat 32e - the third of Intelsat’s next-generation high-throughput satellites -

was launched on Februar y 14, 2017 from French Guiana . The satellite blankets

the highly trafficked Caribbean and North Atlantic region



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commercialization of space activities

focuses on the launch sector of the industry.

As a satellite operator, we are very much in favor of innovation

in the launch side of the business. We like to have as many

launch options as possible, especially for dependable scheduling

for satellite launches, and of course continued quality.

Competitiveness and entrepreneurship are key. It is especially

important in the space industry where innovation is robust.

We are pleased to see so much interest now in developing

new satellite constellations in low-earth orbit and in designing

and building new launch systems. As you know, on February

28 we announced a conditional combination with OneWeb.

We will continue to fully integrate the OneWeb LEO satellites

with Intelsat EpicNG to provide continuous broadband service

anywhere on the globe. This will advance both of our business

plans as we seek to connect the four billion citizens in our world

that lack access to broadband services.

Q Since announcing the partnership with Kymeta to create secure and ubiquitous Ku-band connectivity for the passenger vehicle market, the company now appears to be near ready to enter the commercial market this year. What are some of the unique and innovative applications that this technology will bring as this new market develops?

A One of most compelling applications that Kymeta’s antennas

will enable for the passenger car market is the ability to broadcast

software and firmware updates. Under-the-hood computers

increasingly are vital to the operation of today’s motor vehicles.

At the same time, many auto recalls require simple software

updates to resolve a problem. One auto manufacturer recently

reported that they spent $6 billion on auto recalls in 2015 alone.

If massive software updates via satellite could save even a

fraction of that, it would mean more profitable manufacturers

and happier consumers. This is one area where our traditional

wide beam satellites, which complement the spot beams on the

Intelsat EpicNG platform, will have an advantage. The ability

to broadcast over a wide area is where we will derive the most

economic benefit, and the ubiquity of our global fleet makes the

software updates much easier for the manufacturer to implement.

Q What is your view of the in-space servicing market in general and the recent NASA awards to SSL? How is Intelsat’s relationship with Orbital ATK progressing on commercial in-space servicing and repair and when is the expected launch?

A We are very much in support of in-orbit satellite servicing

and have encouraged the development of this technology for

much of the last decade. Back in 2011, we partnered with MDA

to try to get the industry interested in satellite servicing and

refueling, but the idea was not entirely popular back then.

In-orbit service has many advantages for the industry.

New spacecraft could be launched with less fuel on board,

allowing for higher payload masses. Carrying less propellant

would permit use of smaller launch vehicles or more shared

launches on large rockets. With in-orbit refueling, operators

could continue to use older spacecraft with operable

payloads. Insurance payouts would be reduced for losses

resulting from missions where spacecraft couldn’t reach their

orbital locations without assistance from a service vehicle.

We think using the mission extension vehicle (MEV) being

developed by Orbital ATK to refuel satellites is essential to drive

improved returns on our global fleet. Under our agreement with

the company, the MEV should be ready for service in 2018. We

have identified the spacecraft and will use the MEV for the first

mission. This may not be appropriate for every orbital location,

but depending on the satellite, this technology can be incredibly

useful and provide continuity of service to our customers.

Q Can you discuss the debt management progress at Intelsat and whether further debt restructurings will be required?

A We recently announced that we will launch a liability

management exercise as part of our announced conditional

combination with OneWeb, which also contemplates a $1.7

billion equity investment by SoftBank. I’m unable to comment

further at this time.


Intelsat 33e undergoes pre-launch check in French Guiana ahead of its August 24, 2016 launch.


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M AT T H E W D E S C HC E O, I R I D I U M

Q Congratulations on the successful launch and the in-orbit deployment which so far seems to be progressing smoothly, even faster than anticipated. Do you expect the delay leading up to the first launch to have impacted the business in the medium to long term or will you be able to catch up on the lost subscribers and increased financing costs quickly? Can you give us a quick update of how your subscriber base is developing?

A The initial delays, though frustrating, have not greatly impacted

our progress or overall subscriber growth. Even with the delays,

we are on track for full deployment in 2018, which has been the

target and the expectation for our customers and partners for

some time. Additionally, since we are replacing our existing

network with new satellites, subscribers will not be without

services throughout the constellation replacement. We’re excited

and anxious though to take advantage of the new Iridium®

NEXT services – like faster broadband service and Aireon’s flight

tracking business. Regarding our subscriber base, it continues

to steadily grow, especially within our government, maritime

broadband and Internet of Things (IoT) lines of business. On our

Q4 earnings call we noted that we ended 2016 with 850,000 total

billable subscribers, which compares to 782,000 at the end of

2015. That is a nine percent year-over-year growth rate.

Q Looking forward the Falcon 9 launch schedule still has to prove itself to be reliable. Does this remain a significant risk to you or have any further launch delays fallen down your risk register? What do you see as your most significant remaining risk?

A The Falcon 9 is proving to be a reliable launch platform, but

agree that SpaceX needs to really step up the pace to complete

our launches this year and next – and I think they will. Though

they have a busy launch manifest, we remain confident in their

ability to successfully deliver Iridium NEXT to orbit. I think

launch delays remain one of our risks to completion, but with

every successful launch that risk is declining quickly.

Q It is great to see the first ‘images’ from the AireonSM payload which has the potential to validate the LEO hosted payload model. With the advance of ‘mega constellations’ and cubesats, do you see a continued market for other LEO hosted payloads in the future? Are all the hosted payload spaces in the Iridium constellation ‘taken’ or do you still have spare capacity?

A We’ve been very successful with hosted payloads, building

businesses like Aireon that would have been difficult to afford

as a standalone system. Building satellites with the capacity for

hosted payloads creates an efficient and more affordable means



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for companies to access space and can be valuable for the host

satellite operator as well. Companies are not burdened with the

heavy infrastructure and launch contract costs, making hosted

payloads an attractive option. This is especially true for companies

that do not like the costs associated with replacing their cubesat/

smallsat constellations every few years. As more LEOs are funded,

I’m sure some of them will also try to create opportunities for

hosted payloads, though they’re not easy to work out, given that

both the host and hosted must be synchronized in funding,

timing, and technology. Our Iridium NEXT satellites’ hosted

payload capacity is 100 percent booked; however, opportunities

still exist for companies interested in exploring hosted payloads

on Iridium NEXT compatible satellites.

Q Iridium was instrumental in proving the new generation of constellations and you are now being followed by very ambitious projects such as OneWeb, Planet/Terra Bella and others, as well as the new MEO/V-band filings etc. There is already talk of a potential ‘bubble’. Do you think that finance is/has been too loose, hence enabling such a bubble or do you believe that the projects obtaining finance today are viable? Which of the upcoming projects do you see as having the potentially biggest impact on your own business?

A It’s a long, hard road to fully deploy a LEO satellite constellation

– we’re certainly a successful example of that, but it’s been over

25 years since our constellation was conceived. I can’t really

speak to the business plans for the LEOs that have announced –

they are all trying to do something very different to what we are

doing. All the LEOs I’ve seen and talked with who are targeting

very high broadband rates in Ka, Ku or V-bands are more likely

to be complementary and possible partners for Iridium, rather

than being very competitive. That’s due to the very different

nature of L-band and the way we’ve optimized services from our

unique, cross-linked mesh satellite network, than what’s likely

from the swarms of announced LEO bent-piped satellites focused

on what I would call more “commodity broadband services”.

Q As a CEO you must be planning years into the future and the full deployment of Iridium NEXT has already happened. What will be the next big step for Iridium – and do you think that you will be able to find the necessary finance for it?

A The first 10 of 75 Iridium NEXT satellites have so far been launched

into low Earth orbit. SpaceX currently has our second launch

scheduled for mid-June, with the remaining launches taking

place approximately every two months thereafter. This schedule

allows the Iridium NEXT constellation to be fully deployed by

mid-2018. Iridium NEXT is a new era for the company and the

industry in general. The new constellation will enable new

technologies from both us and our partners, and we are excited

to see what the future holds. Specifically, we will be delivering,

Iridium CertusSM, our next-generation platform offering a suite

of enterprise-grade communications solutions to all industry

verticals. Iridium NEXT satellites are fully programmable, and

we already have a lot of ideas for many new services in the

maritime, aviation and terrestrial (particularly vehicular and

portable) markets – both alone and in conjunction with other

satellite and terrestrial partners. Most importantly, when we

complete Iridium NEXT in 2018, we start a long period of much

lower capital expense, which means our growing cash flows

will transform our bottom line, and provide us with exciting

possibilities for creating additional shareholder value. I’m

looking forward to our potential with a new network and the

financial resources of a mature satellite company with high

operating margins!



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M A R K DA N K B E R GC E O, V I A S AT

Q Satellite operators in the industry in general face global pricing pressure across their respective business segments. Meanwhile, ViaSat has recently reported marked growth in YoY earnings in both the Satellite Services and Government Systems segments in the 3Q FY 2017 release. What would you say is the main driver behind this growth?

A Our satellite services business is significantly different than the

legacy satellite operators. Of course, one of the biggest differences

is that our primary satellite, ViaSat-1, has far more bandwidth

than conventional satellites. That allows us to provide more

bandwidth and better service quality to our customers and also

earn a better return. Also, because we are so vertically integrated

we can do a more effective job of translating the productivity

gains into direct customer benefits by optimizing a complete

hardware/software/services solution. Finally, we have a diverse

set of products that we can integrate across our Satellite Services

and Government Systems segments that allows us to create and

capture value in more ways than legacy satellite operators.

Q To what extent does ViaSat’s differentiation of services from your competitors contribute to sustain your growth?

A We believe our services are certainly differentiated from legacy

satellite operators. Our experience is that constraints on speed

and bandwidth are the greatest sources of dissatisfaction with

broadband satellite services over conventional satellites. We

can use the very high bandwidth capacity of our satellites to

deliver much more bandwidth to our services customers than

other satellite operators. We focus on customers who want more

bandwidth at comparable prices, as opposed to lower prices for

comparable bandwidth. That’s what enables us to sustain our

growth.

Q The highly anticipated ViaSat-3 ultra-high capacity satellite platform will bring significant speed and quality to the global underserved and unmet markets in the in-flight connectivity, oceanic, maritime and enterprise segments. Given the extremely high throughput levels, do you anticipate the development of any new segments that can also benefit from this service?

A Yes, we do believe that large volumes of very cost effective

bandwidth will expose new market opportunities. Some of those

opportunities will come from new applications within existing

vertical market segments. For instance consider high-speed

live transmission of very high bandwidth seismic exploration

data in energy exploration. Existing satellites don’t have the

bandwidth to support that application at scale, and bandwidth

pricing would be prohibitive compared to other alternatives. We

also anticipate that ViaSat-3’s high-speed, high volume, low cost

bandwidth will open new markets that are currently not served,

or poorly served, by terrestrial alternatives with higher capital

costs.

Q As a corporation, ViaSat has grown through acquisitions and made the successful leap to becoming a reliable satellite operator. As the company continues to grow, what is the view on vertical integration or partnerships with non-sector players?

A We believe that our vertical integration allows us to understand

specific vertical markets very deeply – as opposed to just offering



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wholesale bandwidth into a broad range of horizontal markets.

We have often found that we are strongly aligned with end user

values, but that existing service delivery eco-systems may have

conflicting economic incentives. Or, sometimes conventional

technical or business interfaces inhibit delivering what the end

customer wants. We don’t integrate vertically because we are

trying to compete with potential partners. We only integrate

vertically when we must to create an attractive holistic hardware/

software/services value proposition that is best aligned with end-

user demands. As our bandwidth and services improve to become

more competitive with terrestrial alternatives it’s only natural

that we would seek to create eco-systems that are better suited to

those markets. Sometimes that means vertically integrating and

often it means creating new types of partnerships.

Q Would this view be driven more by an internal mantra of defining growth or necessary positioning to stay competitive?

A The answer is we want to do both. We are very much growth

oriented. We have shown that there is certainly a steep learning

curve on satellite productivity. That is, we can meaningfully

improve the bandwidth economics of every successive satellite

generation by introducing new integrated space and ground

technology. So, the faster we can build and sell the bandwidth

on this generation, the faster we can get even more improvement

on the next one. Those bandwidth productivity gains yield

competitive advantage within the satellite industry and grow

our addressable market compared to terrestrial alternatives.

It’s a virtuous circle in the sense that faster growth yields faster

productivity gains that in turn enable sustained growth. But,

we can’t just throw low cost bandwidth into a market. We need

to position ourselves within each market to capture the “more

value at comparable prices” value proposition – as opposed to the

“lower prices for same value” one. We really don’t want to end up

in that non-differentiated market position.

Q How can the Space risks industry, such as insurance products and other risk transfer mechanisms support you further?

A Managing risk in an inherently risky business is essential.

We are able to effectively manage the technical risk of the

design, development, construction, launch and operation of

our satellites and their associated terrestrial infrastructure.

However, despite employing prudent and appropriate technical

oversight of our programs, unforeseen events can and do occur

which require risk sharing with partners such as our insurers.

As the scope of our programs grow, we would like to see space

insurers increase their single event risk capacity as well as

provide longer term programs that are tailored to the unique

aspects of a space program. ViaSat prefers to establish long-term

partnerships throughout all aspects of our business. For the

ViaSat-2 program, we’ve worked closely with a number of space

insurers to evolve our risk management program to incorporate

the new, longer-term coverage as well as new forms of insurance.

We look forward to more of this collaboration with our space

insurance partners in the future.



Q What are the keys to maintaining a leading edge and meeting customers’ demand in your market?

A In a market that finds itself in the midst of a revolution, with

technological changes in all areas, new players and new demands,

the key to remaining relevant in the telecommunications sector is

innovation understood in its widest possible sense: in technology,

management and business models. We have to learn to take a

fresh look at things, listen to our customers and anticipate their

needs while closely monitoring the coming changes in order

to quickly adapt and identify new vertical markets. Currently,

telecommunications is a key factor for development and we

must be very attentive to economic and social transformation

in order to place ourselves at the centre of this evolution and

contribute to its expansion. New needs and developments, such

as mobile connectivity, connected cars, global connectivity with

high bandwidth or in emergency situations, offer the satellite

industry opportunities and future challenges that we can

only handle through innovation and adaptation to these new

environments. At Hispasat, we have always been working along

these lines; innovation is part of the company’s DNA. We have

further enhanced this during last year by placing innovation at

the heart of Hispasat’s strategy, integrating it into the horizontal

objectives of the company and dedicating more resources to it.

We define new goods and services as well as new business models

by coordinating them with our customers and suppliers. This

new working method is starting to yield results. Thus, among

other projects, we have already developed leading connectivity

solutions for boats and high-speed trains, support services

for emergency and safety equipment with satellite-connected

drones and a new product for the distribution of digital cinema.

We are also working on the design of smart video platforms,

the integration of satellites into loT networks and new business

models in order to provide low-cost broadband solutions in

remote areas. There is a whole world out there just waiting to be

connected, and satellites are willing to play an important role in

building universal connectivity.

Q What sets you apart from your competitors?A As a regional operator, our size allows us to be more flexible

and closer to our customers, working with them and looking

for solutions fully adapted to their needs. Our staff consists of a

close group of professionals, always attentive to provide the most

advanced technological solutions to the customer’s needs. This

fact differentiates us and gives us an important edge. It has been

key in many occasions to closing deals ahead of other competitors.

This totally customer-driven orientation also prompts us to take

very special care of service quality and to be very reliable, which

is also a key factor for users of telecommunication networks.

Furthermore, despite being a medium-sized operator, we have

been able to plan our orbital and fleet resources with a medium-

and long-term strategic vision, developing alliances with other

operators whenever it was possible, which has consolidated us as

a reference operator in Latin America, one of the fastest growing

markets in recent years.

Q In developing your recent satellite projects, how did you push innovation and manage risk control? What lessons did you learn?

A We have incorporated innovative payloads in all our latest satellites,

which have made it possible to improve their performance and

efficiency. The most notable innovation in the H36W-1 satellite,

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CARLOS ESPINÓS GÓMEZC E O, H I S PA S AT



C A R LO S E S P I N Ó S G Ó M E Z I N T E RV I E W E D BY B E N O Î T CO N D ROY E R , E V P, AO N I S B

launched in January, is the combination of an active antenna

that can be reoriented from Earth in order to adapt to changes

in the market throughout its lifespan. It also has an on-board

processor, which achieves greater signal quality and makes it

possible to carry out in orbit a part of the processing that is now

carried out on Earth. The Amazonas 5 satellite, which is to be

launched in 2017, will have an optical load based on photonics

technology, which will allow for a significant reduction in mass

and volume, an improvement in the insulation capacity between

transmission and reception, and a reduction in the complexity

of multi-beam mission management. We have to continue along

this line of technical innovation in order to be more and more

capable and efficient so that we can compete with terrestrial

technologies, which also continue to move forward. It’s true that

when you innovate, you run risks because the equipment lacks

prior experience, and so in these cases we are even more rigorous

during the production processes, and we reinforce redundancies

in the satellite in anticipation of possible failures. Additionally,

in some cases we have received support from the space sector,

both public and private, through funding from space agencies

in several countries and alliances with the satellite industry.

These public and private collaborations are also, in themselves,

an innovative way of sharing the risk in the technological

advances of the sector. We must not forget that the greatest risk

is becoming obsolete and not being able to provide a competitive

response to the requirements of the market. This is surely the

most important lesson learned: when you stop moving forward

you start falling behind.

Q What are the main commercial risks you have identified with HTS satellites and what is your strategy to mitigate them?

A HTS satellites are a step forward on the road to the efficiency and

competitiveness of satellite technology since they can offer more

capacity at a lower cost. But they also have downsides and risks

that must be faced. On the one hand, the onset of HTS satellites –

and VHTS satellites, which are already showing up on the horizon

– has resulted in a great deal of capacity supply accumulating

on the market in a short time, but we believe that there will

be sufficient demand in the medium and long term in order to

absorb this capacity, and even more in most emerging markets or

those that are not fully mature, as well as in new market segments

yet to be developed. On the other hand, these large satellites face

the intrinsic difficulty of its spots, whose much smaller coverage

makes them depend to a greater extent on the correct definition

of this presence, since their smaller geographical scope means

there are fewer commercial alternatives. These satellites

constitute a highly stimulating commercial challenge, to which,

once again, we have to respond with innovation: new goods and

services with greater added value and new business models that

travel down the vertical of the value chain and come closer to the

final user, often in alliance with other actors in the sector that

can share the risk. Besides, more dynamic knowledge of demand

is essential in order to forecast the areas of greatest growth in

the coming years. Incorporating reconfigurable beams in the

satellites will also contribute to mitigating this risk.

Q How will recent and upcoming evolutions in the launch services industry impact the future of your activity?

A Launchers are the segment of the space value chain that has

evolved the least in the history of the sector, and it is essential

for them to also look for alternatives and ways of reducing costs

and generating availability for access to space. Launch costs are

also a significant factor in the satellite efficiency equation and

they have changed very little in recent years. The possibility of

making dual launches has had a positive impact but further

progress is needed, promoting changes in manufacturing and

launching systems that would provide operators with more

flexible and less expensive access to space without jeopardizing

safety. SpaceX’s proposal to partial re-use the launch rocket may

be a solution, but we must continue researching and studying

this subject without preconceptions, with a very open mind,

in order to find an answer to the need for adjusting prices so

that satellite technology can remain competitive in the field of

telecommunications.


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WS R F 2 0 1 7 - LO N D O N E V E N TT H U R S DAY 1 5 T H J U N E

KEY DETAILSDate: Thursday 15th June 2017

Venue: etc. Venues, Fenchurch Street, 8 Fenchurch Place, London

EC3M 4PB

Format: Four main sessions, split into Key Note talks and Panel

discussions

The event is for the global space community to achieve a better

understanding of space risks, new technologies and innovations.

The goal of WSRF is to make Space a safer place to do business.

Please visit our website at: www.worldspaceriskforum.com/event/view/event-2017 for further details on the event. We hope to see you in London in June!

We are pleased to announce that the WSRF, in association with Seradata, will be hosting a one day event in the City of London.


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W I L LY C H O WC H I E F CO M M E RC I A L O F F I C E R , A B S

Q As a Satellite Operator what exciting trends are you seeing right now in Asia that are imp acting/driving your business forward?

A We observe that there is slow growth in existing / traditional

satellite applications such as CATV video distribution and

cellular backhaul.

We see strong rural broadband development growth potential,

accelerated by new applications, high throughput satellites, and

more affordable customer premises equipment / terminals.

We also see that many people with little or no access to

multichannel television. Hence, we believe there is significant

unmet demand for quality digital multi-channel broadcasting

services across many countries in Asia especially in the

emerging markets.

Q What do you see as being the key success factors and hurdles in your region?

A The industry is stagnant with little growth so if we are able to

achieve double digit growth, we can declare our year successful.

We are on target for double digit growth in revenue and

earnings.

Q Would it be possible to provide an update on the Permira sale and its potential impact on the company?

A The sale process is on-going but we have little to report

publically at this stage. A new investor will inject new equity to

continue the growth initiatives of the company including the

build expansion of the satellite fleet.

Q In October last year, it was reported that the company was re-designing ABS 8 to better respond to new market conditions, in particular the ones created by the Viasat-3 satellite announcement. Can you please provide an update on this matter?

A In the design of our satellites, we have always focused on reducing

the cost / MHz or cost / Mbps delivered to orbit so that we can

share the benefits with our partners and end users. We believe

that in a fast evolving market and technology environment,

we will unlikely commit to a satellite that is close to Viasat-3’s

capability. However, we are working closely with various satellite

manufacturers to come up with the next generation of advance

satellites which will be low cost, flexible and competitive in

pricing.

Q What do you consider to be your highest risk as an operator and what measures have you taken to mitigate it?

A In a dynamic and fast changing environment, we believe that the

satellite industry needs to proactively strive to understand / meet

customer requirements and make substantial progress in driving

efficiency up while keep cost low. We see significant progress in

the launch industry, but we would like to see more progress in the

satellite manufacturing and ground equipment / user terminal.

The highest risks to an operator are to become irrelevant and not

taking actions to address market changes. With ABS’s innovative

business model and efficient satellite systems we are already

delivering economics to our end customers and proving that

demand exists.


ABS-2A satellite


I N T E RV I E W

S T E FA N G A R D E FJ O R DC E O, SW E D I S H S PAC E CO R P O R AT I O N

Q How long has Sweden been a player in the Space Sector? How did SSC start?

A Sweden has been in the Space industry since 1966. Esrange

Space Center, in Northern Sweden, was built in 1964 by the

European Space Research Organization, which later became

European Space Agency by merging with the European Launcher

Development Organization. When Esrange Space Center was first

built, it was established as a sounding rocket launching range,

the area chosen because it was sparsely populated and located in

the Aurora zone. Shortly after, it also became popular for ground

station operations, perfect to manage satellites in polar orbits.

Today, the network of ground stations for such operations is global,

providing SSC with one of the world’s largest all altitude, multi-

mission ground stations network, with the proven experience

and know-how in building and deploying new customer ground

stations for its global commercial and government customers.

The first rocket launch from Esrange Space Center occurred on

19 November 1966. In the first six years, about 150 rockets were

launched from Esrange, most with experiments involving basic

research on the Aurora, ionosphere and atmospheric physics.

Following this initial period, in 1972, ownership was transferred

to the newly started Swedish Space Corporation (SSC). SSC

expanded operations to include balloon launches. With rocket

and balloon capabilities at Esrange in place, the assigned

missions of Esrange, for sounding rockets and balloons, evolved

to the support of the sounding rocket and balloon programs

of the member states of the European Space Agency. To date,

Esrange Space Center has launched almost 600 rockets and more

than 500 balloons.

Q Today you provide Advanced Space Services, what are these and why are they important to life on earth?

A Space technology is now at a stage where it can provide a

completely new global transparency, in close to real-time

and with high resolution. Additionally, the space based

communication infrastructure will soon make all this available

to everyone across the globe. New applications develop fast,

with new opportunities for sustainable economic growth and

societal development as well as confronting global challenges

like climate change and security. In short, space provides

excellent new opportunities for peace, freedom and prosperity

to humanity on planet earth, today and far into the future.

SSC’s versatile capability plays an important role in this

context. With more than fifty years of experience, we provide a

wide range of services to customers all over the world. We own

and operate one of the world’s largest ground networks, used

to manage satellites as well as downloading and distributing

data for customers across the globe using cutting edge modern

technology. Technological development, together with climate,

space and biological science and research, has been supported

for decades through the use of sounding rockets and large

high-altitude balloons from the Esrange Space Center. SSC

has grown into a renowned, full-service supplier of state-of-

the-art space engineering, satellite operations and launch

services to commercial and institutional customers worldwide.

Inspired by the exciting development of today’s space domain

we remain at the forefront by continuously developing new

capabilities in close cooperation with our customers. Our

understanding of the emerging needs for accessible, flexible and

affordable solutions enables us to tailor and deliver innovative

services to our key market segments.

We focus on three core areas:

• As the operator of one of the world’s largest civilian networks

of ground stations, we provide reliable access to satellites in

virtually any orbit. With a new set of satellite services, we are

dedicated to meeting satellite owners’ increasing need for

capacity and flexible solutions.

• We provide rocket and balloon launch services at Esrange

Space Center including robust and cost-effective experimental

Gondola in midnight sun.



payloads. The ongoing upgrade of the Esrange Space Center,

including the planned launch capabilities for small satellites,

will enable us to continue to deliver unmatched services into

the future.

• We also provide engineering services to customers’ projects

by bringing leading edge space engineering expertise to all

phases of their space programs.

Q SSC is a company where the shares are 100% owned by the Swedish Government. Does that mean all your risk is taken by the Swedish Government or do you seek assistance in the private sector to off-lay some of your risk, for example buying insurances or other risk transfer mechanisms?

A SSC operates like any company in the private sector. The only

difference is that it is the government that owns the shares. This

means that SSC is fully responsible for its operational risks and

SSC therefore off-sets risk by for example using property and

casualty insurance services just as any other company. So there

is no difference to privately owned companies in this context.

Q What are the biggest risks and threats facing the Advanced Space Services that you provide?

A To a large extent, our services consist of ground segment

operations that provide the ability to communicate with

satellites in order to task the satellite or its payload and to

download data. Therefore, cyber-attacks and disruptions

form the most severe and difficult threat. Another is physical

risks from natural disasters like earthquakes, forest fires

or storms affecting our ground stations across the globe.

Our focus is to provide mission assurance for our customers

to succeed in their space projects. SSC has well-developed risk

mitigation plans and are continuously investing extensively

in advanced cyber-defence and also in back-up systems

covering the full spectrum of our operational capability. Our

globally diversified network of ground stations provides great

operational flexibility. If one site is affected by an incident or

a disruption, another can take over. This enables resiliency

and redundancy in our global architecture. We also have

an immediate global incident response system, providing

readiness to take decisions and act 24/7. Security in its broadest

context, focusing mission assurance, is part of the SSC brand.

For our launch operations, the risks are the same as for any

launch operator, but our long experience together with our

vast launching area in the far north of Sweden provide great

advantages regarding safe and secured launch operations.

Q Could you provide a case study where effective satellite operations helped mitigate or avoid a large space loss? What were the lessons learned?

A Among many advanced services for satellite owners across the

world, SSC typically supports more than 20 launches, with their

critical Launch and Early Operation Phases (LEOPS) every year.

Our skilled staff working in our own, or our customer’s control

centers provide vital communication services that deploy

ground infrastructure across the globe. All these activities are

critical to the initial and sensitive part of a satellite mission.

Our lessons learned from these operations are many, but the

most important lesson is the need to have the most skilled and

experienced staff, ready to take immediate action when things

are not going as planned. Staff must be able to follow backup

plans and have the ability to improvise in a controlled manner

to deal with the situation at hand. We have experienced several

very successful cases where these capabilities helped to avoid

severe disturbances and losses.

Q How many satellites to you currently provide service to? What is the ratio between LEO, MEO and GEO satellites? What is the fastest growing segment?

A Today, we’re supporting over a hundred customer satellites. The

majority of these satellites are in LEO orbit and make up our

fastest growing segment.

I N T E RV I E W


Operations Center picture: SSC personnel supporting

major space missions.



Q What is the timescale of the development of your new launch capability? When is the first launch expected?

A We are projecting our new launch capability, called SmallSat

Express, to go live in 2021. In the autumn of 2016, SSC received

the results of a Swedish Governmental Office analysis regarding

our proposed development of Esrange to increase capacity of

launching small satellites. Mr. Jan Nygren, who was responsible

for the analysis, recommended that the Government conduct

further work on capitalizing on the opportunity to increase

launch capability. He concluded the report by saying that Esrange

Space Center’s current capability provides unique prerequisites

that could be even further developed, in a cost-effective way,

to establish a small satellite launch facility. Mr. Jan Nygren is

a former Minister of Coordination and secretary of state within

the Swedish Government, and former Vice President of SAAB AB.

SmallSat Express will meet the increasing need for launch

opportunities for small satellites. SmallSat Express is part of

a bigger project aimed to develop Esrange Space Center as a

Center of Excellence. It will provide a multitude of services,

including small satellite launch services, to the scientific

community as well as commercial customers. The facility

already has a well-equipped infrastructure and fifty years of

experience in range and launch safety as well as handling

large rocket motors and launching of guided rockets.

Apart from the launch service for small satellites, coordinated

operations measurements using satellites, sounding rockets,

high-altitude balloons and/or ground instrumentation

will be possible. The launch service is intended for around

1-200 kg satellites. The launch periods will be fixed. The

service will enable a standardized orbit suitable for most

small satellites; sun-synchronous orbit at 500 km altitude

(inclination = 97.4°) with the ascending node at 0600, 2200,

and 1400 (“dawn-dusk” orbit) Local Solar Time. By using the

launch service on three consecutive launches a constellation

of satellites covering every local time can be established.

With this SmallSat Express service, SSC’s service portfolio will

expand to pre-launch engineering, launching and operating

satellites, including both satellite control and data downloading.

Q What is the target market for your HPGP propulsion system? What are its main discriminators?

A ECAPS, a fully owned SSC subsidiary, targets small and

large satellite operators. ECAPS’ High Performance Green

Propulsion (HPGP®) thrusters range from 1 Newton (N) to 220 N.

The main discriminator for ECAPS HPGP thrusters is that they

use low toxic, environmentally benign propellant that is a smart

alternative to traditional propulsion. The storable Ammonium

Dinitramide (ADN) based liquid monopropellant is easy to

handle and transport due to its low toxicity and low sensitivity,

and has received a UN/DOT 1.4S transport classification; thus

allowing it to be transported on commercial passenger aircrafts.

HPGP technology provides both increased performance over

monopropellant hydrazine and a more cost-effective solution

than a similarly-sized hydrazine propulsion system, when

compared over a satellite mission’s life-cycle.

I N T E RV I E W


Sciences Rocket 3: Sounding rocket launched for Esrange Space Center.


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NEWSLETTER - World Space Risk Forum - 2016 · 2017-02-14 · connectivity, which is increasingly becoming a “human right’’. Satellites can then be the cornerstone and the disruptor