From increased financing to providing connectivity when other technologies failed, the satellite industry achieved a great deal in 2005. It has indeed turned the corner and all indicators point to sustained growth for the coming years.

This is good news, not only because we want the industry to prosper as it has so many times before but because a more significant understanding is developing among key users regarding the solid attributes satellite brings to their day-to-day communications needs.

One of the most significant impacts satellite technology had in 2005 was in the arena of disaster recovery. While terrestrial networks suffered outages in the days following the hurricanes in the U.S. Gulf region and the earthquakes in Asia, satellite networks were handling a corresponding surge in demand for capacity. Satellites proved they are an important component of public safety communications systems, adding a crucial layer of redundancy to terrestrial networks. In the hours, days and weeks following disasters of this magnitude, satellite networks provided critical communications capabilities to emergency personnel, corporations and individuals. Whether by satellite radio, satellite television, fixed satellite broadband networks, satellite imagery or mobile satellite telephony, satellite communications became the lifeline when one was needed most.

Satellite Industry Association Chairman Tony Trujillo testified on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., urging the U.S. government to increase its use of satellite-enabled communication systems. "Satellite networks work today. They provide redundancy today. They work with other communications systems today, and with our recommendations in place, the satellite industry will be even better prepared to meet America’s disaster relief and recovery needs in the future," he said at a hearing discussing lessons learned during the response to the hurricanes that ravaged the U.S. Gulf Coast. With such a surge of advocacy from the satellite industry, perhaps reactionary measures will be replaced by preventative ones so such hearings will no longer be needed.

Another significant satellite industry development came in the form of a proposed FSS merger. With the influx of private equity investments money is now starting to speak. "The proposed Intelsat-Panamsat merger is a different kind of event from those represented by the wave of 2004 private equity purchases and 2005 private equity IPO exits," said Owen Kurtin, a partner with the law firm Brown Raysman Millstein Felder and Steiner LLP and our monthly "Dollars and Sense" columnist. "Indeed, this deal represents part of the same continuum in rationalizing the satellite sector that began in the wake of the 2001-to-2003 abyss. The satellite business should be healthier for it."

So what’s ahead? Industry experts cite more consolidation throughout various sectors of the satellite industry. We cannot forget New Skies, which cloaked the real Intelsat deal in the making. The Netherlands-based operator is still a prime target for acquisition and perhaps 2005 will bring that to fruition. Likewise, there may be some consolidation among the regional operator sector, even as regional operators continue to hold their own in their respective markets. And we cannot forget the manufacturers. Even though consolidation has shadowed this sector for years, with less payloads on-order, the inevitable shrinking of the sector may be on the horizon. Any way you look at it, one thing does remain certain: These developments are only the beginning.