SSPI

What if you wanted to be buried in space? Is there a service for that? In fact, there is.

Which other niche businesses will thrive in the Cislunar economy and how will they be financed and supported?

In this podcast, based on the October 2023 edition of the New York Space Business Roundtable, we explore how businesses can succeed in the Cislunar Economy. How might – or might not – they be financed? We discuss market potential, secondary market dynamics, and investor perspectives in today’s Cislunar economic landscape.

Joining SSPI’s Lou Zacharilla and NYSA’s Joe Fargnoli are:

• Dr. Robbie Robertson, CEO and Co-founder, Sedaro
• Micah Walter-Range, Managing Director, Community in Space

On September 28 during the September open meeting, SSPI-WISE was pleased to offer a workshop on entrepreneurship. This podcast, the first of the SSPI-WISE Presents series, is based on that inspiring workshop.

Everyone charts their own career path and for some that path is entrepreneurial. We have all heard about the challenges and successes of “running your own business,” but this podcast offers you a first-hand look through the experiences of a panel of women entrepreneurs. You’ll hear answers to your questions on key issues including:

• Why start your own business
• How to establish Goals, Mission, and Value Proposition
• Developing Finance and other Resources

In this podcast, you'll hear from:

• Mary Frost, CEO, Power to Change US
• Susan Irwin, President, Irwin Communications
• Andy Steinem, CEO, Dahl-Morrow International
• Dasha Tyshlek, CEO, StratCraft

In this Better Satellite World podcast series, SSPI’s Lou Zacharilla speaks with people whose lives and work inspire us because they walk “the road less travelled,” the one leading us to a wider view of space, satellites and our quest for the dwelling of light we call “The Truth.” This series features people you may have heard about but may not have yet had a chance to actually hear speak.

In the fifth episode of The Road Less Travelled, Lou speaks with Brad Bode, CIO, CTO & Founder of ATLAS Space Operations. They discuss Ground Segment as a Service, ATLAS' promising approach to satellite operations that offers a range of benefits to satellite operators and how ATLAS' work has them ranked in the top 30 among Fortune's most innovative companies.

Brad Bode brings over 20 years of software development experience in the aerospace industry to the ATLAS team. He has designed, developed, tested and deployed satellite command and control, mission planning and data management applications throughout his career. Now, Brad, as the architect and visionary behind Freedom GSaaS (Freedom Ground Segment as a Service), is responsible for hundreds of thousands of satellite passes and terabytes of data collected. He holds an MS in Computer Science from Northern Illinois University.

GEO satellite has been with us since the dawn of the satellite age, and it’s easy for us to take it for granted. GEO 2.0 makes its contribution to the Eternal Orbit campaign by inviting today’s experts in geosynchronous orbit to discuss the future of this grandfather of satellite orbits. What’s new, what’s sexy and what is tried and true? Let’s find out together in GEO 2.0.

What happens when the old and young meet and bring to the world best of breed connectivity – or collide in the chase for its rich market share, capital and the future? In an industry where terrestrial and orbital, once contestants in a bitter communications technology “religious war,” have found convergence and common ground around technologies such as 5G and soon 6G, and where deals such as Apple and Globalstar show the innovation that can occur with these platforms, the next question is, “When will there be true multi-layer connectivity that can readily connect EVERYTHING without complicating the customer experiences?”

Further, when will the 5 billion unconnected find the internet with ease and make the “Middle of Nowhere” no more? What do established, profitable GEO leaders, such as Hughes Network Systems, with its extraordinary new Jupiter-3 satellite now in orbit think about this and the future of connectivity and satellite industry investments? Can it work with upstarts?

In this episode of GEO 2.0, based on the September edition of the New York Space Business Roundtable, you'll hear from Joe Bernabucci, Director of Strategy & Market Intelligence at Hughes, William Mudge, Vice President of Engineering Operations, USA at Speedcast and Steve Nixon, President and Co-Founder of SmallSat Alliance. They discuss if the Outernet is outer nuts and if GEO has entered a new era that will be even more potent than the first.

GEO satellite has been with us since the dawn of the satellite age, and it’s easy for us to take it for granted. GEO 2.0 makes its contribution to the Eternal Orbit campaign by inviting today’s experts in geosynchronous orbit to discuss the future of this grandfather of satellite orbits. What’s new, what’s sexy and what is tried and true? Let’s find out together in GEO 2.0.

Mark Twain once famously quipped, "Everybody complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it." Well, Pam Sullivan isn't so sure about that!

In the third episode of GEO 2.0, SSPI's Lou Zacharilla speaks with Pam Sullivan, Director of the Office of Geostationary Earth Orbit Observations at NOAA's Satellite and Information Service. In this role, she oversees the development, acquisition, integration, installation, and acceptance of major system elements (spacecraft, instruments, launch services and ground systems) for the GOES-R Series satellites and NOAA’s next-generation geostationary satellites, Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO).

Pam Sullivan joined NOAA in May 2018. Previously, she managed the GOES-R Series Flight project for NASA, directing the development of the spacecraft, Instruments, and launch services for the four satellites in the GOES-R series. Sullivan has broad space flight development experience that includes serving as the Deputy Project Manager for the Joint Polar Satellite System Project, Program Manager for the National Polar Operational Environmental Satellite System Visible/Infrared Imager/Sounder System, and Manager of the James Webb Space Telescope Integrated Science Instrument Module, the Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera, and GOES-IM Imager and Sounder instruments.

GOES satellites are designated with a letter prior to launch. Once a GOES satellite has successfully reached geostationary orbit, it is renamed with a number. GOES-U, the final satellite in the series, is scheduled to launch in 2024.

Prior to starting her NASA career, Sullivan served as an officer in the U.S. Air Force, training as a space shuttle flight controller and supporting military space experiments using the shuttle. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in astronautical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

GEO satellite has been with us since the dawn of the satellite age, and it’s easy for us to take it for granted. GEO 2.0 makes its contribution to the Eternal Orbit campaign by inviting today’s experts in geosynchronous orbit to discuss the future of this grandfather of satellite orbits. What’s new, what’s sexy and what is tried and true? Let’s find out together in GEO 2.0.

In the second episode, SSPI’s Lou Zacharilla talks with Dr. Channasandra “Ravi” Ravishankar and Bhanu Durvasula from Hughes about how integrated constellation solutions, including GEO, are meeting the demands of the day and will meet challenges of the future. You’ll also hear more about where satellites in geosynchronous orbit are expanding the capabilities of their nearer Earth cousins.

Dr. Channasandra “Ravi” Ravishankar is Senior Vice President of Engineering at Hughes and leads end-to-end system design activities of GSO and NGSO satellite systems. He led the development of GMR-1 Mobile Satellite System air interfaces that adapts terrestrial 3GPP specifications over satellite – these air interfaces have been standardized in ETSI and ITU. He has contributed to 3GPP 5G NTN specifications in the area of mobility management. He was a keynote speaker at the International Communication Satellite Systems Conference (ICSSC) in 2022. He has served as Editor of IEEE Transactions on Communications journal and Guest Editor of IEEE Networks Magazine on “Integration of Satellite and 5G Networks.” He received his PhD degree in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University, USA. Prior to joining Hughes, he was with Comsat Laboratories, Clarksburg, Maryland, USA.

Bhanu Durvasula, Vice President of the International Division at Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES), leads the company’s international product and operations team, responsible for product line management of satellite broadband systems. In his 30+ years at Hughes, Mr. Durvasula has held a variety of leadership roles in engineering and product development for solutions including, among others: cellular backhaul over satellite, Mobile Satellite Systems (MSS) ground networks; and point-tomultipoint wireless products for terrestrial cell backhaul and last mile access. Most recently, Mr. Durvasula’s efforts have been focused on satellite network technology for community Wi-Fi hotspot and cellular backhaul solutions in support of the company’s efforts to bring connectivity to unserved and underserved areas of the world. He holds several patents, both issued and pending. Mr. Durvasula earned a Master of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Consumers, businesses, governments and communities around the world benefit from the connected experiences enabled by Hughes technologies and services.

GEO satellite has been with us since the dawn of the satellite age, and it's easy for us to take it for granted. GEO 2.0 makes its contribution to the Eternal Orbit campaign by inviting today's experts in geosynchronous orbit to discuss the future of this grandfather of satellite orbits. What's new, what's sexy and what is tried and true? Let's find out together in GEO 2.0.

In the first episode of GEO 2.0, SSPI's Lou Zacharilla speaks with Mike Antonovich, CEO Commercial for U.S. Electrodynamics, Inc. Mike gives us a look at what may be in store for GEO's future in the satellite industry from the perspective of an industry veteran.

Mike Antonovich is a globally recognized leader in the managed transmission service industry with over 30 years experience delivering high quality solutions and services to the world's leading media, enterprise and government clients. He currently serves as CEO Commercial for U.S. Electrodynamics, Inc. (USEI), a position he took on recently. Mike joined USEI after working as Senior Satellite Services Sales Specialist for Telstra, where he was responsible for growing Telstra's presence in the satellite communications marketplace. Before Telstra, he was VP of International Sales & Business Development at DataPath, where he worked in systems design and integration, global field services, and transportable Earth stations, among other areas. Mike served for 4 years as CEO of Eutelsat Americas, a position in which he was responsible for all activities for Eutelsat in the Americas and for supporting Americas-based clients on Eutelsat’s global capacity. He has served in a variety of other leadership roles throughout his career in the industry, including SVP of Global Sales at Media Global Links, SVP and GM for the Americas at ATEME, President & CEO of The SPACECONNECTION and EVP of Global Sales and Marketing at PanAmSat.

In this Better Satellite World podcast series, SSPI’s Lou Zacharilla speaks with people whose lives and work inspire us because they walk “the road less travelled,” the one leading us to a wider view of space, satellites and our quest for the dwelling of light we call “The Truth.” This series features people you may have heard about but may not have yet had a chance to actually hear speak.

In the fourth episode of The Road Less Travelled, Lou speaks with Dr. Kimberly Arcand. Dr. Arcand is the Visualization Scientist & Emerging Tech Lead for NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, which has its headquarters at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dr. Arcand is an award-winning producer and director. She is a leading expert in studying the perception and comprehension of high-energy data visualization across the novice-expert spectrum. As a science data storyteller, she combines her background in molecular biology and computer science with her current work in the fields of astronomy and physics.

Dr. Arcand has been a pioneer in astronomy data visualization, 3D printing and virtual reality. She presented her TEDx talk entitled “How to Hold a Dead Star in Your Hands” in 2016 on 3D printing, the same year she was selected as a “Changemaker” for the White House State of the Women Summit. In 2019, she was featured in the Smithsonian’s “How to be a Scientist” video series both for her work in 3D visualizations of astronomical objects and her work with under-represented groups in STEM. She led a team of researchers to launch the first-ever data-driven virtual reality application of a supernova remnant using NASA observational data.  She was selected as a speaker for the U.S. Department of State Speaker Program in 2019, and has appeared on TV shows such as episodes of BBC’s “Universe” on BBC & PBS in 2021,  “A World Without NASA” on the Curiosity channel in 2020, and Roadtrip Nation on PBS in 2020.  Her recent work with SYSTEM Sounds on data sonifications for multiwavelength data and featured on NASA’s SoundCloud, went viral, and has been covered in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Atlantic, BBC, CNBC, NPR, and the Today Show among others. She is currently working on holograms and applications incorporating haptic technology for astrophysics.

Few subjects have been more fertile for the writer’s mind than space with its infinite mysteries and fascinations. With the commercial business of space forming, writers have started to shape stories of the people and potential which make it, yet again, the subject of fascination.

As the dreams of fortunes and adventure again capture the creative mind, what are authors writing about and what do they have to say about our space barons and fictional characters with space as the background? In this podcast, based on the August 2023 edition of the New York Space Business Roundtable, you’ll hear from writers of new books from across the spectrum about their books and their opinions!

Our guests include:

• Christian Davenport, Washington Post reporter and author of The Space Barons: Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos
• Tim Fernholz, Sr. Report, Quartz.com, author of Rocket Billionaires
• Rob Scheige, Vice President, Willis Towers Watson, author of The Ubiquitous They

In the second episode of this Making Leaders podcast series, we hear from Ronald van der Breggen, Chief Commercial Officer at Rivada Space Networks. Ronald joins SSPI’s Robert Bell to discuss his career path and what experiences he brought from his advisory and entrepreneurial background to the new space sector.

Ronald van der Breggen is Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) at Rivada Space Networks, a position he has held for just over 1 year. As CCO at Rivada, he is responsible for setting and executing the commercial strategy for the company. In addition to serving at Rivada, Ronald is the CEO and owner of Route206 b.v., a consultancy business he founded nearly 10 years ago to help turn tech companies into business successes. He puts his consulting skills to use on multiple boards, serving as Advisory Board Member for both Via Satellite Magazine and Xenesis and also briefly served as the Advisor to the CEO of KebNi. Ronald's other past postions include Chief Commercial Officer at LeoSat Interprises, Inc., Vice President of Customer Account Managment for SES Satellites, Vice President of Business Development at KPNQwest and Senior Director of IP Network Development at KPN.