Here’s your slightly cynical, thoroughly caffeinated wrap-up for the satcom week of November 1–8, 2025 a span of days that felt like watching the council of wizards argue over who gets the staff of destiny while the upstart apprentices quietly ship code, bolt panels, and occasionally scrub a launch when a valve decides it wants a personal day. The unifying vibe this week was “multi-orbit pragmatism with a side of D2D theater.”
GEO players reminded everyone they still pay the mortgage, MEO kept polishing its value proposition, LEO did what LEO does (i.e., multiply and conquer) and direct-to-device hopped from proof-of-concept to real services you can point to without a caveat the size of a ground station. Think of it as the industry’s “aging monarch meets ambitious heirs” moment; no one abdicated, but several cleverly adjusted the succession order.
The untold story – behind each of these news flashes heralding moderate to severe optimism is a list of contributing-vendors that are hemorrhaging money while trying to meet unrealistic (unachievable) technical, manufacturing and delivery goals set by the primes. It seems as though the only way the business plans of these mega-programs work is if everyone on the team is wearing deeply-tinted, rose colored glasses. But in the end – it’s all about the math.