Jerry Petersen
Intelsat CEO David Wajsgras recently said that his company is considering an investment in a medium-Earth orbit constellation and intends to make a decision regarding the effort before the end of the second quarter, Via Satellite reported Monday.
Wajsgras, a former Wash100 awardee, made the remarks at the SATELLITE 2024 conference, where he noted that, if Intelsat proceeds with the MEO investment, other parties may provide outside financial support.
The Intelsat official explained that conversations with senior government personnel have revealed an interest in the company’s plans for a MEO constellation, particularly in terms of military applications.
“There are multiple different types of benefits that could come out of this: military communications, commercial communications, and some very advanced capabilities like edge processing or cloud in the sky,” Wajsgras said.
During the same event, Intelsat’s CEO revealed that his company is also looking into the satellite-to-cell market, noting that an investment with an unnamed company is close.
“We have talked with them for a little while and we’re going to not only invest with them, but we’re going to work on further developing a direct-to-handset [offering] using our spectrum holdings. We think that will give us a very unique position in this growing market,” Wajsgras said.
