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GEO 2.0

GEO satellite has been with us since the dawn of the satellite age, and it’s easy for us to take it for granted. GEO 2.0 makes its contribution to the Eternal Orbit campaign by inviting today’s experts in geosynchronous orbit to discuss the future of this grandfather of satellite orbits. What’s new, what’s sexy and what is tried and true? Let’s find out together in GEO 2.0.

Episode 1: What's Next for the Grandfather of Satellite Orbits?

In the first episode of GEO 2.0, we hear from Mike Antonovich, CEO Commercial for U.S. Electrodynamics, Inc. Mike gives us a look at what may be in store for GEO’s future in the satellite industry from the perspective of an industry veteran.

Mike Antonovich is a globally recognized leader in the managed transmission service industry with over 30 years experience delivering high quality solutions and services to the world's leading media, enterprise and government clients. He currently serves as CEO Commercial for U.S. Electrodynamics, Inc. (USEI), a position he took on quite recently. Mike joined USEI after working as Senior Satellite Services Sales Specialist for Telstra, where he was responsible for growing Telstra's presence in the satellite communications marketplace. Before Telstra, he was VP of International Sales & Business Development at DataPath, where he worked in systems design and integration, global field services, and transportable Earth stations, among other areas. Mike served for 4 years as CEO of Eutelsat Americas, a position in which he was responsible for all activities for Eutelsat in the Americas and for supporting Americas-based clients on Eutelsat’s global capacity. He has served in a variety of other leadership roles throughout his career in the industry, including SVP of Global Sales at Media Global Links, SVP and GM for the Americas at ATEME, President & CEO of The SPACECONNECTION and EVP of Global Sales and Marketing at PanAmSat.

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Episode 2: The Future of GEO is Now!

In the second episode of GEO 2.0, we hear from Channasandra “Ravi” Ravishankar and Bhanu Durvasula from Hughes about how integrated constellation solutions, including GEO, are meeting the demands of the day and will meet challenges of the future. You’ll also hear more about where satellites in geosynchronous orbit are expanding the capabilities of their nearer Earth cousins.

Dr. Channasandra “Ravi” Ravishankar is Senior Vice President of Engineering at Hughes and leads end-to-end system design activities of GSO and NGSO satellite systems. He led the development of GMR-1 Mobile Satellite System air interfaces that adapts terrestrial 3GPP specifications over satellite – these air interfaces have been standardized in ETSI and ITU. He has contributed to 3GPP 5G NTN specifications in the area of mobility management. He was a keynote speaker at the International Communication Satellite Systems Conference (ICSSC) in 2022. He has served as Editor of IEEE Transactions on Communications journal and Guest Editor of IEEE Networks Magazine on “Integration of Satellite and 5G Networks.” He received his PhD degree in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University, USA. Prior to joining Hughes, he was with Comsat Laboratories, Clarksburg, Maryland, USA.

 

Bhanu Durvasula, Vice President of the International Division at Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES), leads the company’s international product and operations team, responsible for product line management of satellite broadband systems. In his 30+ years at Hughes, Mr. Durvasula has held a variety of leadership roles in engineering and product development for solutions including, among others: cellular backhaul over satellite, Mobile Satellite Systems (MSS) ground networks; and point-tomultipoint wireless products for terrestrial cell backhaul and last mile access. Most recently, Mr. Durvasula’s efforts have been focused on satellite network technology for community Wi-Fi hotspot and cellular backhaul solutions in support of the company’s efforts to bring connectivity to unserved and underserved areas of the world. He holds several patents, both issued and pending. Mr. Durvasula earned a Master of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Consumers, businesses, governments and communities around the world benefit from the connected experiences enabled by Hughes technologies and services.