Industry Innovator Awards
2012 Awards
INNOVATION IN KA-BAND SERVICES
KA-SAT and ViaSat-1
SSPI honors two for-profit companies and strategic partners for the development and launch of transformative high-throughput satellites that seek to provide broadband Internet access to homes and small offices at rates and speeds comparable to terrestrial alternatives. More...
INNOVATION IN THE MITIGATION OF GALAXY-15
Intelsat and SES
SSPI honors a satellite operator that forged an unprecedented collaboration with another leading operator to prevent a perfect storm of radio frequency interference over the US domestic arc. More...
INNOVATION IN INDUSTRY COLLABORATION ON THE SAFE USE OF SPACE
Space Data Association
SSPI honors an association formed by satellite operators to make operations in space safer for themselves and more reliable for their customers. More...
INNOVATION IN IDENTIFYING THE SOURCE OF INTERFERENCE
Comtech EF Data
SSPI honors Comtech EF Data for developing, on its own initiative and at its own expense, a critical component of a long-term solution to the problem of satellite radio frequency interference (RFI). More...
2010 Awards
SERVICE DEVELOPMENT & APPLICATIONS
The US Broadcast Networks
In the for-profit sector, SSPI honors the four US terrestrial broadcast networks – ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX – for successful completion of a nationwide conversion from analog to digital over-the-air broadcasting. More...
Télécom sans Frontiéres
In the non-profit sector, SSPI honors Télécom sans Frontiéres, or Telecommunications Without Borders, a relief organization in southern France founded by Monique Lanne-Petit and Jean-Francois Cazenave. More...
SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT & APPLICATIONS
Inmarsat 4 Spacecraft
In the for-profit sector, SSPI honors Inmarsat as the creative innovator and EADS Astrium as systems engineer and project manager for the complex, multi-year effort to develop and launch the Inmarsat-4 system of spacecraft. More...
Satellite Users Interference Reduction Group and WBU-ISOG
In the non-profit sector, SSPI honors the Satellite Users Interference Reduction Group (SUIRG) and the World Broadcasting Union – International Satellite Operations Group (WBU-ISOG) for leadership over many years in the effort to reduce the impact of satellite radio frequency interference (RFI). More...
TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT & APPLICATIONS
Cisco Systems Internet Router in Space
In the for-profit sector, SSPI honors Cisco Systems for developing and placing into operation a hosted satellite payload offering the ability to route IP traffic on the satellite, which eliminates the need to send the data to and from an extra ground station to implement the circuit-switched function. More...
NASA Innovations in Space Communications and Robotic Operations Related to the Deep Space Network, Mars Exploration and the Hubble Space Telescope
In the non-profit sector, SSPI honors the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for innovations in deep space communications and robotics in support of Mars exploration programs and the reconditioned Hubble Space Telescope. More...
Articles
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Better Satellite World Podcast: Summer Fun, Episode 3 featuring Rice Space Institute's Dr. David Alexander
Summer is a time for fun in the sun, for vacations, hobbies and taking a step back from the usual business of the industry. In this podcast series, we check in on what people in the industry are doing this summer, what they're thinking about for the fall as they head out on vacation and what they're planning to do to when they return to make a better satellite world. The third episode of the 2021 Summer Fun series features a conversation between SSPI Director of Development and Innovation Lou Zacharilla and Dr. David Alexander, Director of the Rice Space Institute and Chair of the Aerospace and Aviation Committe at Greater Houston Partnership. Lou checks in with Professor Alexander on his summer plans, the summer heat in his long-time home of Houston, and how his birth city of Glasgow has become an up-and-coming space hub. Dr. David Alexander is the Director of Rice Space Institute at Rice University and Chair of the Aerospace and Aviation Committee at Greater Houston Partnership. He serves as a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, where his primary area of research is solar astrophysics. As RSI Director, Professor Alexander is responsible for the mission and direction required to develop and achieve the goals and objectives of the institute. He has established a strong Rice presence in the Houston space community and strengthened the institutional ties with the NASA Johnson Space Center, developed partnerships with local aerospace industries and created a strong rapport with local, regional and federal government leaders. Professor Alexander is a member of the Rice Faculty Senate and author of “The Sun” part of the Greenwood Press “Guide to the Universe” Series. He received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2004 and was appointed a Kavli Frontiers Fellow by the National Academy of Sciences in 2006. Professor Alexander joined the faculty at Rice in 2003 from the Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center in Palo Alto, California where he was a Staff Physicist working on the development of advanced space missions for solar physics. In 2018, Professor Alexander became an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE). This OBE was awarded to Dr. Alexander “for his services to UK/US links in the space industry and higher education.” This podcast is also available in video format: SSPI’s Better Satellite World campaign is made possible with the support of our corporate partners
