London's Bridge of Generations
When I see you at the SATELLITE Conference, either while moderating the satellite manufacturers panel or at the SSPI Hall of Fame induction and I bow to you, instead of shake your hand, it is not because I have become a Zen Master, moved to Japan or have a sprained wrist. You will of course know that I am taking the advice of scientists, my doctor and other health experts to play it safe during this COVID-19 blight of bugs.
Who knows what the future will bring? Most likely what it always brings: Tomorrow.
Tomorrow is where the satellite industry has always lived. We know what the past delivered, and we will know what the future can look like especially during this year's industry Hall of Fame event. Previous and current inductees will mix with many of our "20 Under 35" recipients to talk about their careers, the future and enter into plain old "shop talk." One group will look ahead as another is celebrated and begins to look proudly behind.
While this "quiet mentorship" is going on that night we will overtly bow to the power of mentorship in our industry as CEOs and leaders of companies bring along a protégé to the celebration. This bridge, linking Promise to Purpose, is SO necessary for our industry to cross over to the future.
While some of us will happily see the future and the seamless bridging of generations on Tuesday night (March 10th) you can hear it taking place in real time – any time you want – in our current series of Better Satellite World podcasts. I have finished interviews with the recipients of the Better Satellite World Awards, who each received their award in London, in December, during our UK Chapter's annual, spectacular dinner.
The challenge of using our industry's tools to make a better world does not seem to distinguish itself, as politics or dating services do, by age or geography. You will hear Chris Lee, Chief Scientist of the UK Space Agency describe the world's most significant, and largest, international partnership program. My friend Mr. Lee is writing the final chapter in his long, distinguished career with an exclamation point! (In his case, make it two!!)
The UK program recently supported 12 disaster situations, provides data to 25,000 farmers, protects 380,000 hectares of forests via satellite observation and (in these days of the non-handshake) trains over 300 rural health professionals to dispense medicine and guidance. The UK government shows the world what its space and satellite programs can do to justify the expense and, mainly, to make the world better. Mission accomplished.
The project's URL says it all: www.spacefordevelopment.org and Chris says much more in our two-part podcast underwritten by W.B. Walton Enterprises.
We will close the series by hearing from young Abhas Maskey, the Project Manager for the international collaboration BIRDS. Mr. Maskey received a letter inviting him to London by our Tamara Bond-Williams and he somehow managed to clear every hurdle imaginable to get there to be with us!
The BIRDS project is run from the Kyushu Institute of Technology in Japan. It brings together multiple nations who, in 1969, had no shot at a space shot. But as they say, "look at us now!!!" The BIRDS team, made up of advanced degree students from developing nations, works together to build and launch cubesats. Their work has advanced the technology and, in the case of Mr. Maskey, has made him a rock star hero in his home nation of Nepal where a space agency has been established and funded thanks in large part (a very large part) to the Kyushu collaborative and their future leader. Kids in Nepal dream the same dreams many of the people inducted into the industry's Hall of Fame dreamed decades ago.
It's a great story.
The narrative of the Better Satellite World will be recognized at a high level in Washington, DC. The narrative is a series of connected dots which found a bridge in London, where we proved again that the will to transform our communities – like the satellites used to transform them – flies over boundaries that others seem stuck behind.
That's worthy of a bow, don't you think?
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