Via Satellite talks about the future of Arabsat with President and CEO, Khalid Balkheyour at SATELLITE 2014

At SATELLITE 2014, Satellite Executive of the Year award winner Khalid Balkheyour, CEO of Arabsat, called for the satellite industry to up the pace of progress.

“It’s over 50 years of development in the satellite business, but in the last 10 years since I have been with Arabsat, I haven’t seen much change in the development and evolution of [satellites],” Balkheyour said to Mark Holmes, editorial director of Via Satellite.

In a video interview, Balkheyour explained why he felt underwhelmed by the rate of change, and what the industry should focus on to be more competitive. Arabsat recently issued Requests For Proposals (RFPs) for four new satellites, which the company hopes to launch in 2016. Balkheyour discussed what Arabsat is looking for in its future satellites as well as how the company plans to make best use of future assets.

Watch the full interview here