The week of Jan 23 to Jan 30 had a very particular vibe: the satellite communications industry collectively remembered that orbit is the glamorous part, but the ground segment is where the leverage lives, the invoices breed, and the “strategic sovereignty” speeches either become real… or quietly die in procurement. If that sounds suspiciously like the thesis of a freshly minted satcom book trying to escape the gravitational pull of draft folders and finally achieve commercial orbit, yes, that’s the point. We’ll come back to it.
Because while the industry was busy doing its usual multi-orbit interpretive dance, it also served up an unusually tidy narrative arc. The plot opened with direct-to-device players sharpening their knives and polishing their press releases, moved into Europe trying to look like it has a plan (again), and peaked with a very on-brand reminder that “critical infrastructure” is not just a phrase you sprinkle like parmesan. It’s also a veto. Sometimes a state-sized veto.
