January 22, 2024
MUSCAT, Oman — Why is the Middle East considered one of the most dynamic, fastest-growing regions for space worldwide? That question was answered earlier in January when 200 organizations from 23 countries attended the Middle East Space Conference (MESC) the first event of its kind hosted by Euroconsult and Sultanate of Oman’s Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology (MTCIT).
In 2023, governments in the region spent an estimated $1.4 billion on space in 2023, a figure that is expected to surge $2.7 billion by the end of the decade, according to Euroconsult research. This pursuit of space leadership not only coincides with the vision of a diverse, digital economy being pursued by the governments of Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and others, it also comes at a time when next-generation space technologies are reaching maturity.
Emerging space powers are finding an increasingly diverse commercial ecosystem to leverage various orbits, technologies and advancements across technology sectors to create a broader range of services, applications and capabilities that are more accessible—and interoperable—than so-called “Old Space” technology.
Expanding into Multi-Orbit and Multi-Service
“The whole industry has changed in the last 4-5 years,” said Arabsat President and CEO Alhamedi Alenezi during a satellite operators panel on broadband connectivity. “It previously was like a closed community providing certain services and certain price and service specifications. But recently … it’s similar to Fintech and banking … where they started providing new services.”
In recent years, legacy operators, like Arabsat, have expanded into new services to keep up with market disruptions by new LEO constellations. At the same time, that disruption has led operators to consider user expectations across verticals and how to meet the growing demand for connectivity. In that context, the long-time GEO operator Arabsat is “expanding multi-orbital, multi-service” offerings to commercial end-users and regional governments. This includes partnerships with LEO constellation operators Loft Orbital and Kineis on Earth observation and IoT data services respectively.
The ability to utilize multiple resources—orbits, applications, network infrastructures, service models, etc.—has unlocked greater efficiencies overall. Regional GEO operator ABS, which recently rebranded as Agility Beyond Space, has been focused on the efficient use of existing GEO capacity for various space and ground solutions while also embracing network virtualization—a tactic that has improved telecommunications industry efficiency dramatically.
“In the past, a lot of inefficiencies in our industry and the high cost was because the only tool we had was a hammer,” said ABS EVP of Global Business Development and Strategy Patrick French, referring to broadcast GEOs. “Now, the industry is growing. We’re developing new tools in space that are more efficient and better at serving the needs of different clients. And this is what’s driving the growth of the industry.”
Making Space Accessible through ‘Real Interoperability’
Other operators, like Rivada Space Networks, are looking to expand the role of satellite by tapping into common standards used in the broader world of telecommunications and IT. The company is working to deploy “the first MPLS network in LEO” using optical inter-satellite links and a secure “outernet” architecture to deliver reliable satellite communications solutions to enterprises and governments. It also aims to leverage 5G non-terrestrial network standards.
The purpose of tapping into standards like MPLS and 5G is to take down the barriers to entry for using a satellite network, Rivada CEO Declan Ganley told Constellations. “I’m about real interoperability,” he said. “When you’re architecting a network, you want it to be compliant with as many of the standards as you can. MPLS is something that all the carriers want and understand. …It’s plug-and-play in a way that other services are not yet plug-and-play.”
During a panel with other satellite operators, Ganley argued that satellite should have a much larger portion of the communications traffic than it does currently, considering the advanced capabilities of new constellations. However, the complexity of bespoke systems and lack of user-friendly technology have been an issue. “If you look at the overall share of the communications…market that satellite has had traditionally, it’s been tiny,” Ganley said. “Once you can provide MPLS services and service level agreements, that changes the game.”
Digital Transformation of the Ground Segment
Progress is also occurring in the ground segment to drive efficiencies and expand the reach and scale of space networks. Ground technology vendors are looking to digitalization and the development of interoperability standards, like DIFI, 5G and others, as a way to take advantage of in-space advancements, like software-defined payloads or flexible payloads and multi-orbit missions.
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Read the full article: https://www.kratosspace.com/constellations/articles/middle-east-capitalizing-on-competitive-space-tech-market
