{"id":67652,"date":"2017-07-29T00:53:28","date_gmt":"2017-07-28T16:53:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/airbus-exec-on-how-to-keep-geo-solutions-competitive\/"},"modified":"2017-07-29T00:53:28","modified_gmt":"2017-07-28T16:53:28","slug":"airbus-exec-on-how-to-keep-geo-solutions-competitive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/airbus-exec-on-how-to-keep-geo-solutions-competitive\/","title":{"rendered":"Airbus Exec on How to Keep GEO Solutions Competitive"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

Flexibility is a key cornerstone of Airbus Defense and Space\u2019s<\/strong> strategy to keep the business rolling amid a lull in Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellite orders, according to the company\u2019s Head of Telecommunications Satellites Arnaud de Rosnay. In an interview with Via Satellite<\/em>, de Rosnay emphasized the wide range of mission types Airbus supports, and also said the company is developing more adaptable satellites to accommodate the rapid pace of change in the industry.<\/p>\n

Only six new contracts for GEO satellites have been confirmed this year so far. If the current pace extends to the end of the year, 2017 will fall far short of the 17 contracts announced in 2016, marking the continuation of a downtrend that other satellite manufacturers have observed as well, including Boeing<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Airbus Head of Telecommunications Satellites Arnaud de Rosnay. Photo: Airbus Defence and Space.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Like Boeing Space Satellite Systems International President Mark Spiwak, de Rosnay suggested the market low could be attributed to operators who are taking some time to evaluate the best ways to implement new technology as it emerges. \u201cSome operators are reviewing their procurement options,\u201d he said. \u201cThey ask us to study a number of configurations and of course, increasingly ask for more flexible solutions \u2026 We need to propose solutions [that are] technically sharper and commercially more elaborate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Specifically, de Rosnay said Airbus has begun to leverage technology such as new processors, active antennas and software-defined payloads to ensure its customers can adapt to market demand as it evolves. This has been a crucial factor in securing export military contracts, de Rosnay added, which have helped Airbus remain resilient against the commercial market lull.<\/p>\n

Airbus is also working to streamline its design and production organization for better efficiency, based on the larger Airbus Group\u2019s<\/strong> Industry 4.0 smart factory approach. This strategy emphasizes cyber-physical systems \u2014 essentially automated machines monitored by computer algorithms \u2014 as well as a focus on the Internet of Things (IOT) and cloud computing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe increasingly use 3-D printing, automation, data exchange and digitalization in manufacturing technologies,\u201d de Rosnay said. \u201cWe implement it both on the GEO side for our new Eurostar Neo product line and for the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) side with OneWeb<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, given Airbus\u2019 newly established partnership with OneWeb to form OneWeb Satellites<\/strong>, de Rosnay sees a lot of opportunity for the company in supporting LEO projects. The joint venture has already kicked off production of the first 900 satellites for OneWeb\u2019s planned megaconstellation at a new assembly line in Toulouse, France.<\/p>\n

However, despite the slowdown on the GEO side, de Rosnay does not believe new LEO constellations will render that side of the industry obsolete. \u201cWe view LEO systems as complementary to GEO ones. They will not impact the broadcast market, which will continue to be best served from GEO satellites; they address the broadband and mobile markets, and are already part of the ecosystem of GEO mobile and broadband operators,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

De Rosnay highlighted High Throughput Satellites (HTS) as key to reducing the cost of capacity and ensuring GEO solutions will remain competitive. All-electric satellites will play an important role too, as they reduce launch mass and consequently in-orbit acquisition cost, he said. Airbus recently lofted the industry\u2019s first all-electric telecommunications satellite for Eutelsat<\/strong>, Eutelsat 172B, which uses electric propulsion for orbit-raising and on-station maneuvers.<\/p>\n

In all, de Rosnay doesn\u2019t see the GEO business model as outdated, and pointed out that there are a number of factors that influence the size of a market in any given year, including cycles of replacement and the increased capacity of new satellites ordered. Because the industry\u2019s fundamentals remain strong, he said, and demand for data continues to increase, he remains \u201cconfident in the market evolution.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s interesting to note that the sector which is structurally in overcapacity is still attractive for newcomers,\u201d de Rosnay added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Flexibility is a key cornerstone of Airbus Defense and Space\u2019s strategy to keep the business rolling amid a lull in Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellite orders, according to the company\u2019s Head of Telecommunications Satellites Arnaud de Rosnay. In an interview with Via Satellite, de Rosnay emphasized the wide range of mission types Airbus supports, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":67653,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67652"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67652\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}