Many things have happened in the satcom industry in 2020. We as an industry have responded to Covid with a flurry of webinars, virtual conferences, LinkedIn posts, and an endless variety of podcasts. Meanwhile, satellite operators have been evolving, with 5G spectrum reallocation moving full steam ahead in some markets (including my home market of Hong Kong, one of the world’s leading assassins of C-band for satellite). 

The GVF-Satellite Evolution 2020 Webinar Series draws to a close the day following my writing the final words of this column. With 15 events in the main webinar series and a further five produced for embedding within partner online events, it has been an interesting and rewardingly successful response to the practicalities and realities of the limitations on our opportunity to move around the globe physically as governments’ policies have responded to the pandemic.

Given the choice between wrestling a live alligator in a Florida pond and living through the events of 2020 again, I would take my chances with the gator.  As we finish our current orbit around the Sun, we have experienced 365 days, 5 hours, 59 minutes and 16 seconds that felt like a Martian year.  

And yet…….

When the first people from planet Earth went into space in the 1960s, it was the thrill of a lifetime.  But we didn’t stay there long.

The next time people went into space, they traveled as far as our Moon – and we got even more excited.   But we didn’t stay long there, either.  

Intelsat today completed its acquisition of the Commercial Aviation business of Gogo, creating the world’s leading provider of inflight broadband connectivity to the commercial aviation industry.

The closing of the US$ 400 million cash deal brings together two complementary enterprises — the world’s largest satellite operator with the leading provider of commercial inflight broadband and entertainment services — to deliver unprecedented innovation and long-term value to commercial airlines.

The November 2020 issue of  the Satellite Executive Briefing magazine focusing on the Military Satellite Market sponsored by Comtech EF Data is now available.  Featuring: The Military Satellite Market by Virgil Labrador Executive Roundtable on Internet of Things via Satellite by Bernardo Schneiderman Case Study: Building a Defense VSAT Network for the Egyptian MoD TechBrief: Steering Sub-Saharan Communities to a Digital, Connected Future Executive Spotlight:  Ali Al-Kuwari, CEO-Es’hailSat When the Future Depends on Being Flat by Robert Bell Virtual CABSAT 2020 in GVF's Cyberspace... by Martin Jarrold Better Satellite World Series: Where's My Stuff PLUS Product and Services Spotlight, Mergers and Acquisitions, Executive Moves, Market Briefs, Vital Statistics, and many more.

The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Informa Tech signed a Memorandum of Intent (MOI) today to launch a new flagship tech event for Asia in 2021. Slated for the second half of 2021, the first edition will be a hybrid event bringing together Government, businesses in the infocomm, media and tech ecosystem, start-ups, enterprise communities and global titans of tech.

Telesat Canada announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Loral Space & Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: LORL) (Loral) and Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) pursuant to which Telesat Canada and Loral will become subsidiaries of Telesat Corporation (Telesat), a new publicly traded Canadian incorporated and controlled company.  

The Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA) held its annual state of the industry event, the Asia Video Summit (the Summit), which was supported by Create Hong Kong of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region as the Lead Sponsor, on 10 to 12 November 2020 with resounding success as over 1000 delegates from the Asian video industry gathered for the Summit.  With most sessions live and broadcast from the studio to a backdrop of Hong Kong or Singapore, the Summit was produced to a very high standard and caps what has been a successful series of virtual events and webin