In early May, 2 GEO communications satellites launched on a Falcon Heavy rocket. It was supposed to be the next step in GEO satcom from two opposite ends of the market spectrum: Viasat’s 6-tonne powerhouse delivering massive capacity to compete with constellations, and Astranis’ Arcturus, a 300 kg platform meant to test both the “micro-GEO”.
The “Bottom Line” from NSR discussed in SatMagazine’s article: “Set against these multiple challenges for the world’s ‘Big Four’ (Intelsat, SES, Eutelsat and Telesat) there’s good news from Northern Sky Research’s (NSR) annual VSAT and Broadband Satellite Markets study that suggests VSA/broadband is a fast-growing segment of the market and that over the next decade,.
Discussing space and satellite market revenue opportunity, “Classical/traditional connectivity requirements are the largest revenue source for the NSR Global Space Economy analysis,” said [NSR]. “Right now, the entire sector is in a period of transformation – from largely complex, bespoke technology to a proliferated, distributed, serialized technology stack. Software-defined and software-centric, mass-produced, and a network-of-networks are proliferating.