SSPI

The second episode of the Satellites & Ukraine podcast series features a conversation with Warren Ferster, Strategic Communications Consultant and Former Editor-in-Chief for SpaceNews magazine. In a conversation with SSPI Director of Development Louis Zacharilla, Warren discusses the role satellites have played in coverage and informing policy during the war.

Warren Ferster is a Strategic Communications Consultant, Writer and Analyst with 25 years of experience reporting on and analyzing global space industry and policy issues. He previously served as Editor-in-Chief for SpaceNews magazine for nearly a decade after 8 years as Deputy Editor and nearly 6 years as a National Affairs Reporter. Before joining SpaceNews magazine, he spent 3 years as a Space Industry Reporter for Defense Daily. Warren earned his Masters degree in National Security Policy Studies at George Washington University.

The first episode of the Satellites & Ukraine podcast series features a conversation with Peter B. de Selding, Co-Founder and Chief Editor of SpaceIntelReport and a Member of the Space & Satellite Hall of Fame. In a conversation with SSPI Director of Development Louis Zacharilla, Peter discusses the role satellites have played in coverage of the war.

Peter B. de Selding delivered more than 20 years of incisive coverage of the commercial space and satellite industry as Paris bureau chief of SpaceNews before co-founding SpaceIntelReport and becoming Chief Editor. His reporting has broken many major stories in the industry and never hesitated to tackle controversies, reveal conflicts of interest and hold business leaders accountable for their decisions. That quality led SSPI, in 2015, to present Peter with a Better Satellite World Award in recognition of his role in making a better industry. Since its founding in 2017, SpaceIntelReport has delivered some of the most accurate, reliable and insightful reporting in the business. In 2021, Peter was inducted into the Space & Satellite Hall of Fame for his achievements.

Is the market for commercial space financing ventures and growth overheated? Are you in the early stages of a revolution or are you late to the party for financing? Why aren’t you getting financing? Or why did you? (And can you get more?) Where are we in the cycle of financing for various types of commercial space company ventures? 

While some get financing easily, others struggle. How DO you get financing for space and satellite ventures? What is the reality for financing in this market? Does space financing have a different character?  In this podcast, based on the March 16 edition of the New York Space Business Roundtable, we ask people who provide funding and those seeking it. Hosted by NYSA’s Joseph Fargnoli and SSPI’s Louis Zacharilla, the podcast’s speakers include:

• Keith Buckley, CEO of Federos (now an Oracle company)
• Noel Rimalovski, GH Partners LLC

Are SPAC-fed space companies headed for a disaster? SPACs have been a dynamic and transformative funding vehicle. An innovation say many. But commercial space may not be the right place for them, or a perfect one. In February’s New York Space Business Roundtable, we ask the questions: Is an IPO the right model for a space company? Can any space company scale fast enough to satisfy most SPACs when we are talking light years and not next year? The NY Space Business Roundtable takes an objective look at the economic viability of companies fueled by SPAC financing and asks if they are destined to flop or a sustainable way to go?

This podcast is based on the February 16 edition of the New York Space Business Roundtable. Hosted by NYSA’s Joseph Fargnoli and SSPI’s Louis Zacharilla, the podcast’s speakers include:

• Phil Friedman, Senior Advisor, Perella Weinberg Partners
• Steven Kaufman, Partner, Hogan Lovells LLP
• Claude Rousseau, Research Director, Northern Sky Research
• Sita Sonty, Partner & Associate Director, Aerospace & Defense, Boston Consulting Group

Beginning in June 2021, UltiSat partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to provide satellite communications services in support of the emergency operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The DRC is host to one of the largest internally displaced populations in Africa, with more than 92,000 refugees seeking asylum in its northern region after fleeing post-election conflict in the Central African Republic (CAR). The displacement has placed tremendous strain on the region, prompting the UNHCR’s humanitarian efforts to provide much-needed shelter, food and access to medical services for the refugees and the local population attempting to support them. Coordinating such a huge effort requires reliable communication services, and UltiSat stepped up to offer them. UltiSat has a long history of supporting humanitarian and disaster relief organizations working on-site by providing satellite network services, equipment, life-cycle operation, installation, maintenance and logistics support.

Speedcast has a long history of providing humanitarian aid and NGO connectivity solutions. Recently, the company partnered with the non-profit organization Willka Yachay to provide connectivity to the Q’eros tribe in the Andes Mountains of Peru. The Q’eros are some of the last living descendents of Incan tribes, and they live a difficult, isolated life without access to modern education, health and technology services. In 2010, an American student named Hannah Rae Porst traveled to Peru and spent time living with the Q’eros for a university project. Some time after leaving the mountain community, she founded the Willka Yachay non-profit organization to give back to those who had accepted her and taught her so much during her time in Peru. Willka Yachay raised funds to build and launch a school for the Q’eros, and Hannah moved to Peru to oversee the project. The organization also founded Kidnected World, an NGO dedicated to bringing interactive education to indigenous civilizations throughout South America and Africa.  Speedcast became Kidnected World’s primary partner on the project, providing communications services and advice on solutions needed to best serve such remote communities. The company also donated a year of connectivity service for the charity and deployed Speedcast field engineers to conduct antenna systems installations in the Q’eros community. Speedcast and Willka Yachay received a Better Satellite World Award in 2021.

Over the course of a more than 25-year career in space and satellite, Christodoulos Protopappas has promoted satellite communications and connectivity across Europe, the Middle East and parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. He founded Hellas Sat, the national satellite operator of Greece and Cyprus, in 2001 and has served as its CEO for 20 years. Today, Hellas Sat operates a fleet of three geostationary (GEO) satellites that serve locations across Europe, the Middle East and parts of Africa. The company has been fundamental to the development of the Greek Space Agency and has contributed to Greece’s space infrastructure as a whole, including serving as a facilitator for collaboration between the Agency, academia and local industries. Hellas Sat also provided the first major opportunities for young engineers in the region to work in the area of space and satellite in both Greece and Cyprus. While serving as CEO, Christodoulos founded the company’s Space Centre in Cyprus, which boasts more than 35 large antennas with DTH transmission and other satellite managed services. Christodoulos received a Better Satellite World Award in 2021.

In this seventh and final episode of This Planet’s on Fire, we hear from Dr. Heather Lynch, Professor of Ecology and Evolution at Stony Brook University in New York and Chris McCormick, Founder and Chairman of PlanetiQ/Global Weather & Climate Solutions. Dr. Lynch and Chris join SSPI’s Lou Zacharilla to talk about how satellites are used as tools for a range of important aspects of the climate, including weather and ecology, which are the main focus of the conversation.

In this sixth episode of This Planet's on Fire, we hear from Dr. Joel Kimmelshue, Principal Scientist and co-founder of Land IQ. Land IQ provides solutions to challenging agricultural and environmental problems throughout the world. Dr. Kimmelshue joins SSPI's Lou Zacharilla to talk about the role of satellites in managing water and describes what it feels like for farmers to be working in drought conditions when their livelihoods depend on water.

In this fifth episode of This Planet's on Fire, SSPI's Lou Zacharilla speaks with Nicole Stott, author and retired NASA astronaut. Nicole talks about her new book: Back to Earth: What Life in Space Taught Me About Our Home Planet - and Our Mission to Protect It and how when she first saw Earth from space, she realized how interconnected we are and knew she had to help protect our planetary home.