News
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Better Satellite World Podcast: Ad Astra - Remembering Jim Oliver
On February 7, 2025, the space & satellite industry lost a giant. Jim Oliver, Founder, Owner and CEO of AvL Technologies and a member of the Space & Satellite Hall of Fame, was known throughout the industry as a pioneer, mentor, innovative design engineer and wildly successful entrepreneur. The innovations he brought to the satellite ground segment have been instrumental in freeing the satellite antenna from its fixed base and moving it out into the field for users from broadcasting and disaster relief to government and military. The world has gained in knowledge, lives saved, health restored and greater safety and security as a result. You can read his obituary here. In honor of his lifetime of contributions to our industry, SSPI is taking this week to rebroadcast an interview from the Risk podcast series, in which Jim shared his experiences taking risks as an entrepreneur and never giving up the passion required to succeed. Jim’s biggest success began with his retirement in the early 1990s after he sold his interest in SatCom. Growing bored with retired life, he was doing consulting work when an old customer asked him to design an SNG antenna that could operate on a standard size van. He saw a clever aircraft cable drive design in a magazine and pursued the patent rights, then designed the cable drive into an antenna positioner with significantly lower weight than comparable antennas. Read more about Jim in his Space & Satellite Hall of Fame profile. The Risk podcast series was originally sponsored by SSPI’s Better Satellite World campaign is made possible with the support of our corporate partners -
Better Satellite World: What It Takes to Make a Better World - A Conversation with Hughes' Dan Losada
On the night of December 2, 2024 in London, SSPI and its UK Chapter held their annual Dinner to present Awards to three individuals and organizations that have made the world a far better place through their efforts. In this podcast series, you will hear their stories. The third episode features Dan Losada, Vice President, International Division at Hughes, who joins us to discuss Hughes’ role in bringing internet access to some of the most isolated communities in Colombia through Juntas de Internet - Comunidades de Conectividad. Dan Losada, vice president at Hughes, leads the company’s international sales team, responsible for satellite broadband systems sales around the globe, and maintaining the company’s competitive edge as the world’s leading VSAT provider. Prior to assuming leadership of the international sales team, Dan was senior director of the Hughes Defense and Intelligence Systems Division (DISD), supporting the U.S. military during its transition to Internet Protocol (IP)-based broadband systems. Previously, Dan held positions in microwave and RF systems design at Hughes and TRW, Inc. (now part of Northrop Grumman). Earlier in his career, Dan served as a technical consultant for Universidad Antonio Narino in Bogotá, Colombia, overseeing deployment of a point-to-multipoint network and evaluating proposals for the implementation of a city-wide WLAN Wireless Network. A certified Project Management Professional (PMP), Dan holds both a Bachelor and Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has published papers on communication systems and design and speaks frequently at industry conferences and panels worldwide. Hughes, with Microsoft and the Colombian government, brought internet access to some of the most isolated communities in Colombia through Juntas de Internet – Comunidades de Conectividad (Internet Connectivity Communities). According to the Wireless Broadband Alliance, more than four billion people globally remain without internet access, including 80% of households in poorer countries and 75% of students in rural areas. The Colombian government laid the groundwork for Juntas de Internet in July 2023 with the backing of the country’s Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies (MinTIC). The program was established to both enhance existing networks and build new ones. Internet implementation, connection, and maintenance is a joint effort between connectivity communities and regional internet service providers (ISPs). Connectivity communities are non-profit organizations whose income is exclusively used for the administration, operation, and maintenance of fixed community internet service. Hughes, serving as a regional ISP, partnered with Microsoft on Juntas de Internet. Read more about Hughes, Microsoft and Colombia’s MICT – Juntas de Internet: Connectivity Communities. This podcast series is sponsored by: SSPI’s Better Satellite World campaign is made possible with the support of our corporate partners -
Better Satellite World Podcast: The Space Business is... In Nigeria: Welcome to NIGCOMSAT
In The Space Business is... – the podcast series of The Space Business is Everywhere campaign, underwritten by ST Engineering iDirect – we take a look at the way the commercial space industry has spread itself to parts of the world where space and satellites were once only read about or dreamed of. Each episode will focus on a specific location and features an innovator who is shaping - and reshaping - the industry. In the first episode, we hear from Jane Egerton-Idehen, CEO of Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT). Jane Egerton-Idehen is a seasoned professional Tech Executive, Author and Angel Investor. She is a dynamic executive with over 20 years in leadership roles across telecommunications, technology and satellite industries. She is currently the MD/CEO of Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT), leading the nation’s foremost agency in charge of managing the operations and services of the communications satellite owned by Nigeria. She has previously held high-level positions at Meta, Avan Communications, Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Network. With proven expertise in driving strategic growth, fostering C-level relationships and implementing revenue-generating sales strategies across multi-national markets, Egerton-Idehen is recognized among Nigeria’s top corporate leaders, with a focus on emerging markets, strategic consulting and innovative technology solutions. She was the Head of Sales, Middle East and Africa, Meta and Country Manager & Regional Sales Director for the West African branch of Avan Communications Group PLC. She cumulatively spent 13 years in Sales and Management in the telecommunication infrastructure giant — Ericsson. She also worked as a Cluster lead for Nokia Siemens Network in West Africa. Egerton-Idehen was born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria. She has a degree in Electronics Engineering in 2001 from the University of Nigeria, Nusska; a Master’s Degree from Warwick Business School, US; and an executive education from Yale School of Management, US. She has worked in the telecommunications industry in Africa for more than 17 years. Being one of the few females heading key business areas in the tech industry has exposed her to numerous professional and personal challenges peculiar to women. Spurred by discussions with fellow female executives round the globe, she organized a forum at Ericsson in which emerging and experienced female leaders could support each other in developing their careers. The overwhelming success of the forum led her to found Women and Career to reach women beyond her organization and to support girls seeking careers after school. In March 2020, she published a book, Be Fearless: Give Yourself Permission To Be You. She drew from her more than 15 years of experience as a telecommunication executive in Africa to help women build lasting careers, especially in the male-dominated STEM industries. Egerton-Idehen has continued to be actively involved in speaking to girls and women about STEM careers. She has spoken at TEDx programs, the African Science Academy, Asheshi University in Ghana, and CFA’s Startups Hangout and many more. She was awarded the Most Outstanding Female CEO of 2024 by the 5th Business and Excellence Awards. She is also the recipient of the Womenovate INWED2024 Women Impact Leader Awards. Egerton-Idehen volunteers for the ACE Foundation’s Young Career and Graduate Mentorship Programme, and she is an aspiring fellow of the Aspen Global Leadership Institute. A home girl at heart, she actively gives back to the Ajegunle community of Lagos through the Sozo Network’s #BeforeITurn18 program, which prepares underserved teenage girls for life, career and leadership. This podcast series is underwritten by SSPI’s Better Satellite World campaign is made possible with the support of our corporate partners -
Making Leaders Podcast: Charting New Territory at ATLAS and Beyond - A Conversation with 2024 Promise Award Recipient Paige Webster
In this Making Leaders podcast, we hear from Paige Webster, Director of Commercial Solutions at ATLAS Space Operations and one of three Promise Award Recipients in 2024. Paige joined ATLAS Space Operations in November of 2021 as a Technical Sales Engineer in Client Solutions after completing three internships at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Her keen eye for identifying process improvements led her to spearhead the development of a new role that aligned the Operations, Integrations, Engineering and Client Solutions teams to create a more streamlined approach to customer relations. Paige’s exemplary performance in this new role she helped create led her to be promoted to her current position of Director of Commercial Solutions, a position in which she focuses primarily on sales and business development, developing ground station solutions for a wide variety of unique missions. She has a unique talent for explaining complex topics in a way that is accessible to diverse audiences, allowing her to bridge the gap between engineering and sales. As a Director of Commercial Solutions, Paige led ATLAS’ effort to design the ground station solution to support Blue Origin’s DarkSky-1 and follow-on Blue Ring missions. Simultaneously, she oversaw the solution development for more than 12 customer campaigns and managed ATLAS’ commercial contracting, resulting in great customer satisfaction. Since joining ATLAS in 2021, Paige has quickly become a significant contributor to the company. She has closed approximately 40% of 2024’s current revenue, and is on track to close more than 70% of ATLAS’ Commercial and Fed Civil sales by the end of 2024. Read more about Paige. This podcast is sponsored by SSPI’s Making Leaders campaign is made possible with the support of our corporate partners
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Featured Podcast
BETTER SATELLITE WORLD
What It Takes to Make a Better World
On the night of December 2, 2024 in London, SSPI and its UK Chapter held their annual Dinner to present Awards to three individuals and organizations that have made the world a far better place through their efforts. In this podcast series, you will hear their stories.