GEO Reborn
“Resistance is futile,” as the Borg would say, and indeed, when it comes to challenging Starlink’s dominance in the public’s perception of space and satellite, it can feel like an uphill battle. Competing with a company owned by figures like Musk for what the PR world calls “mindshare” seems like a daunting task. You only need to look for proof at the global auto industry, trailing behind in electric vehicles, or the other three LEO broadband constellations that are making headlines but not yet capturing our collective imagination.
Gaining any recognition from the public is a novel experience for the commercial space and satellite sector. Before Elon, Jeff, and Richard became household names, most people would struggle to name a company in this sector or explain what it does. That’s often the fate of infrastructure companies serving business customers; they perform vital tasks that go unnoticed until they suddenly stop working.
Fresh “PEP” in GEO’s Step
Even within the satellite industry, it can sometimes feel like LEO gets all the attention. Nevertheless, stalwart GEO is having a moment. Long-awaited, massive spacecraft are venturing into GEO to test whether it can be a competitive yet cost-effective platform for delivering broadband. Swarms of smallsats are being designed for GEO operation, where their lower costs and quicker replacement rates promise newfound adaptability in the original orbit of our industry. The major GEO fleets are placing their bets on a GEO-MEO-LEO architecture to deliver the highest value in space communications.
In this issue of The Orbiter, we shine a spotlight on the first orbit to be entirely commercialized – the eternal orbit that continues to provide invaluable contributions to life on Earth. We gather up all the audio, video, social media, and written content of our five-week Eternal Orbit campaign for your easy access, and we’ve added some interesting new content as well. We express our gratitude to Hughes for initiating and supporting this campaign.
