Satellite 2017 | Cheap satellite terminals key to bridging digital divide, execs say

View this email in your browser News from Satellite 2017 SpaceNews is providing daily coverage of Satellite 2017 this week  with support from Cobham and China Great Wall Industry Corp. Friday, March 10 News from the Show Cheap satellite terminals key to bridging digital divide Debra Werner — The key to extending internet access to billions of people around the globe is not launching a massive constellation of satellites into low Earth orbit, but creating inexpensive terminals, senior industry executives said March 9 at the Satellite 2017 conference. "To solve this digital divide, this gap, you have to make sure your terminals are extremely low cost, much lower than the $400 terminals available today," said Thomas Choi, Asia Broadcast Satellite chief executive. Shotwell on SpaceX backlog: "We will definitely catch up" Caleb Henry — SpaceX intends to conduct six Falcon 9 missions this year using rocket stages that have already flown before.The first such mission, SES-10 for Luxembourg-based satellite operator SES, is scheduled to happen by the end of the month, SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell said at the Satellite 2017 conference. Advertise with Us Protecting satellites from cyber attacks isn't getting any easier Debra Werner — Satellites service and equipment suppliers remain on high alert, watching for signs individual hackers or powerful nation states are trying to breach their network's cybersecurity. That job is becoming increasingly complex as satellite networks become an integral part of larger terrestrial networks."That is massively increasing the security landscape," Vinit Duggal, Intelsat director and chief information security officer, said at the Satellite 2017 conference. "It's not so much the threat actors that have changed, but they are getting a larger playground to play in." FIRST UP Satcom is a free weekly newsletter published every Wednesday by SpaceNews Subscribe Space Data Association, AGI working to improve commercial space traffic center Phillip Swarts — The Space Data Association and Analytical Graphics, Inc. hope their partnership will be the next step in improving commercial space situational awareness capabilities. The organizations announced March 6 they reached an agreement to launch an updated Space Data Center Space Traffic Management service that will provide satellite tracking, radio frequency spectrum management, and conjunction warning services to companies. Dubbed SDC 2.0, it will build upon the first iteration of the center, Mark Rawlins, SDA chairman, told SpaceNews. In Brief Following Thursday's static fire test, SpaceX is targeting a March 14 launch of the EchoStar 23 satellite from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A. The launch window opens at 1:34 a.m. EDT and closes at 4:04 a.m. EDT.    Follow SpaceNews Advertise with Us SN FIRST UP Satcom is sent out every Wednesday by SpaceNews Staff Writer Caleb Henry and SpaceNews Editor-in-Chief Brian Berger. Copyright © 2017 SPACENEWS, All rights reserved.