The New HTS Business Model, Importance of Automation and Leveraging Digital Payloads

This is part two of a special three part panel discussion series. “HTS is Great, but How Does it Impact your Operations Environment?” at the 2018 Kratos Users Conference brought industry leaders together to discuss High Throughput Satellites (HTS) and how this exciting technology is having a significant impact on the satellite operator’s operations environment. Stuart Daughtridge, Vice President of Advanced Technology at Kratos moderated the panel which was comprised of Tobias Nassif, General Manager, Satellite Control Center at Viasat, Tom Leisgang, Technical Director, Ground Systems Mission Engineering and Operations at SSL, John Loke, VP of Network Engineering and Operations at MEASAT, Bob Potter, VP, Technology Signal and Ground Systems at Kratos and Steve Cooper, VP of Product Line Management, Connect Services at SES Networks. Highlights of the discussion included how HTS has caused the business model for satellite operators to change, the importance of automation to reduce rising operations expenses and strategies for fully leveraging the digital payloads.