Satellite-communications industry primed for upheaval

The news cycle in the satellite communications industry seems poised to hit ludicrous speed. While massive incumbents like SES and Intelsat reportedly discuss mergers, upstarts like SpaceX are looking for any advantage they can get. Meanwhile, startups ranging from Rivada to Sateliot to OQ Technology are seeking new funds to power their various space-based gambits.

The recent noise in the sector is partly due to the ongoing World Satellite Business Week trade show this week in Paris. But it also highlights the growing interest in how satellite communications might commingle communications networks on the ground, particularly cellular networks. Exactly how that might happen remains to be seen.

For example, startup Rivada hopes to put up to 600 low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites into space in the coming years. But the company declined to say whether those satellites would feature the same kind of cellular capabilities that companies like SpaceX, Lynk and AST SpaceMobile have promised.

“Our goal is to facilitate the convergence of terrestrial and satellite communications, and move toward ‘platform agnosticism’ as it were – our customers should be able to buy connectivity when and where they need it, and worry a lot less about where it’s coming from. We are exploring all options and speaking to a variety of industry players to achieve these goals,” Rivada’s Brian Carney wrote in response to questions from Light Reading on the topic.

Thus, here are some of the big developments in the satellite communications industry in just the past few days:

To read the complete article, visit Light Reading.