Flip a switch and amazing things happen. Dark to light. Cold to warm. Things open and things close. Yet no one thinks twice. Each flip of the switch is a small miracle, brought to you by billions in investment and the hard work of millions.

I opened my previous column for this publication one month ago with the following statement: “In starting to draft this column it was impossible not to be affected by the news that the official global figure for Covid-19 fatalities was approaching 200,000. The zoonotic – interspecies – jump to humans and subsequent pandemic spread of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has badly impacted many of the world’s most advanced and richest countries, but the epidemiology tells us that the worst of the impact, on the less-developed world, is still to come.”

The flame for 2020 Tokyo Olympics arrived from Greece to Japan on March 20th and Japanese leg of the torch relay with the concept of “Hope Lights Our Way” was scheduled to begin on March 26 from J Village in Fukushima prefecture. However, on March 24 Prime Minister Shinzo Abe asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to postpone the Tokyo Games due to the spreading of the novel coronavirus. Consequently IOC made a decision to accept it. 

What a strange 2020 it’s been so far. For the satellite industry. For the broader space industry. For the entirety of humanity. When we rang in the new decade just a few months ago, no one could have foreseen the enormous changes that were coming to the way we live, work, and geek out about space. 

As part of its ongoing Simplify & Amplify transformation program, satellite operator SES announced  that it plans to restructure its operations worldwide, including the consolidation of part of its European regional operations into the company’s global headquarters in Betzdorf, Luxembourg.

Comtech Telecommunications Corp. (NASDAQ: CMTL) announced today that during the Company’s third quarter of fiscal 2020, it closed an acquisition of NG-911 Inc., a pioneer of Next Generation 911 solutions for public safety agencies in the Midwest. NG-911 is one of the first Next Generation 911 solution providers in the Midwest and has successfully deployed regional Comtech Solacom systems in the past.

IBC2020 has been cancelled due to concerns for exhibitor and attendee safety and the ability to deliver an event of the quality expected of IBC. IBC2020 was due to take place 11-14 September in Amsterdam, but with many countries in Europe still in lockdown, IBC chief executive Michael Crimp said there were “many unknowns.”

World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) marks the anniversary of the founding of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on 17 May 1865, when the first International Telegraph Convention was signed in Paris. The theme of this year's World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) is “Connect 2030: ICTs for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)."

Eutelsat Communications (ISIN: FR0010221234 - Euronext Paris: ETL) today reported revenues for the Third Quarter and Nine Months ended 31 March 2020.  Third Quarter Operating Verticals revenues down 1.6% year-on-year; up 1.2% quarter-on-quarter while broadcast showing resilience, with return to slight growth quarter-on-quarter.

Satellite operator Intelsat has filed a voluntary Chapter 11 petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division. The company said the bankruptcy filing is part of a "financial restructuring" that is "intended to enhance the company’s liquidity and will likely result in a substantial reduction of Intelsat’s legacy debt burden, allowing for Intelsat to emerge with a strengthened balance sheet to complement its strong operating model and future growth plans."