04 April 2025
Takeaways from Satellite 2025
The Conference
The 2025 Satellite Conference and Exhibition, held in Washington, DC, from March 10–13, brought together industry leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs to discuss the evolving landscape of satellite technology. As the sector faces increasing commercial pressures and the rapid advancement of new technologies, stakeholders are carefully assessing their next steps.
This year’s discussions highlighted key strategic shifts among satellite operators, manufacturers, and technology providers. Operators continue to weigh the risks and rewards of multi-orbit solutions, while manufacturers navigate a changing competitive landscape shaped by new entrants and shifting demand. Meanwhile, emerging technologies and partnerships are driving diversification efforts across the industry.
From major announcements to award-winning innovations, the conference offered valuable insights into the future of satellite operations, space situational awareness, and next-generation manufacturing. Here’s a closer look at the critical themes shaping the industry in 2025.
Satellite Operators
Satellite operators are formulating their plans to address commercial challenges, not least through the analysis and implementation of new technologies. Several are seriously considering, but not yet ready to commit to, multi-orbit solutions such as LEO/GEO operations; however, the capital investment required and mixed results for those currently treading this path does seem to give rise to concern and hesitation. New partnerships have been announced. Some operators are looking to diversify their offerings by incorporating space situational awareness (SSA) and other missions into their programs to supplement communications revenue.
Satellite Manufacturing
On the satellite manufacturing side, driven by historically weak demand for geostationary commercial hardware, there has been a renewed focus on Civil/Military opportunities, often based on heritage technologies. Long-standing manufacturers are having to evolve to compete with new entrants such as Swissto12 and Astranis, albeit these challengers have yet to fully demonstrate their capabilities in orbit.
The Awards
Key awards at the conference were given to SWISSto12 CEO Emile de Rijk - who recalled his first attendance at the conference in 2015 and how the company has evolved from offering 3D printed antennas, at that time, to now offering GEO satellites to the very top tier of satellite operators - and Slingshot’s Agatha AI system which provides space domain awareness data regarding satellite anomalies and unexpected satellite behaviour.
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