The recent $1.4B implied Enterprise Value of the Marlink transaction that was announced recently makes analysts like us at NSR pause – are there defensible corners of the satellite communications sectors that are immune from the on-going collapse of the value-chain by satellite operators? Can service providers survive the rapidly changing technology landscape of LEO.
Many things in 2020 have “defied norms” as it relates to the Space and SATCOM Industry – mass shutdown of cruise and aeronautical markets, significant increases in consumer and cellular backhaul demand, supply-chain disruption, and on-site installation or commissioning access restrictions. In addition to these COVID-19 related market factors, the United States will also enter.
As the mobility satcom market experiences an unprecedented disruption, these already stressed businesses made hard choices around their future – internal fractions in the iceberg of Maritime SATCOM Connectivity.
While there is no doubt that COVID-19 has impacted the Maritime market, the “COVID-dip” is significantly less pronounced for Maritime than Aeronautical SATCOM markets.
NSR’s newly released Government and Military Satellite Communications, 16th Edition (GMSC16) report finds another year of growth for commercial satellite connectivity. As HTS-based services start to really take-off in the market, retail revenues are up $600M from 2017, to over $5.6 Billion. Driven by strong growth for Aeronautical Platforms (both Manned and Unmanned), the market remains poised to double over the next ten years.