We're finally near the end of 2021 and for most people, it couldn't come fast enough. It's been a very challenging   year not only for the satellite industry but for pretty much the global economy.

As I've pointed out in several previous articles in this publication (The Satellite Industry in a Post-Pandemic World," September 2021 and The Satellite Industry in the Time of Covid-19, April 2020), some sectors may not have been impacted by the pandemic as others, but impacted nonetheless.

Pandemics are Here to Stay

ST Engineering today announced that its Corporate Venture Capital unit, ST Engineering Ventures Pte Ltd led a US$ 30 million Series A round in Israel-based hiSky Ltd., a  developer and provider of affordable and agile satellite Internet of Things (IoT) networks and solutions, with participation from SDF (Strategic Development Fund), the investment arm of Tawazun Holding, and hiSky’s existing shareholders.

In the Terminator films, an artificial intelligence system called Skynet is put in charge of the US nuclear deterrent.  After some consideration, it reaches the not-unreasonable conclusion that human beings are dangerous.  Cue Armageddon, followed by a long mopping-up operation to ensure that humans will never pose a threat to a world now run by machines.  

As I began writing this column news was filtering over media about the decision of the World Health Organization to designate the latest mutations to the spike protein of the Sars-Cov-2 virus as a “variant of concern”, and to use the Greek letter Omicron to name it (rather than the original designation of B.1.1.529). Thanks to the skills of scientists at South Africa’s Medical Research Council Genomics Centre the exact sequencing of the new variant was speedily completed and its details promulgated quickly to their colleagues in sister agencies around the world.

Th​​​​​​​e November 2021 issue of  the Satellite Executive Briefing magazine focusing on the African Satellite Market sponsored by iKO Media Group is now available.  Featuring: Update on the African Satellite Market by Omkar Nikam Satellite Data Analytics Market by Prateek Yadav Dead Ringers by Lou Zacharilla Ground Segment:  All Change for a new Satcoms Era by Martin Jarrold Better Satellite World: Satellites by the Dozen PLUS Products Spotlight, Mergers and Acquisitions, Executive Moves, Market Briefs, Vital Statistics, Satellite Markets Stock Index and many more. 

The Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA) ended off the year with a series of virtual conferences attended by over 1600 delegates across Asia Pacific, and its first in-person industry conference and dinner in over two years, Resilience 100, at the Grand Hyatt Singapore.

The traditional satcom industry continues to be in a state of rapid change, and still in a state of turmoil. While the industry is currently dominated by a handful of major players, this could also change dramatically over the next five years as new technologies and standards reset the competitive landscape. And despite the impact of Covid, there has been no let-up of interest in investment into the space industry with US$  5.5 Billion in collective proceeds from all 13 space Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) transactions.

The Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA) will be hosting its annual Satellite Industry Forum on Thursday, 18 November this year, under the Asia Video Summit umbrella of events which are taking place from 11 – 18 November.

The Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA)’s marquee event of the year for the video industry, the Asia Video Summit, returns with a bang to wrap up a tumultuous year for media with five component events spread over two weeks and running the gamut of virtual, physical and hybrid.

View videos from the CABSAT 2021 show held in Dubai, UAE from October 26-28, 2021.