Mark Holmes is the editorial director for Via Satellite magazine and Avionics magazine.

Certainly, 2013 was a momentous year for the satellite industry with many highlights such as O3b finally launching its first satellites, Eutelsat and Arabsat making major acquisitions, the launch of Inmarsat’s first Global Xpress satellite, Intelsat’s IPO, as well as SpaceX’s first commercial satellite launch at the end of the year.

The industry has performed well over recent years somewhat buffeted from the global economic headwinds. Now that companies like O3b and SpaceX are up and running in a sense, their progress will be fascinating to watch. With all the developments from 2013, it feels as if we are entering into a new era for the industry. I would not be surprised if we saw one or two fairly significant acquisitions in 2014 as well.
One of the big issues facing the industry this year is the impending spectrum battle that will take place at WRC-2015. Wireless players are once again making a play for valuable spectrum that has long been the domain of satellite players. In this edition, we have a feature article looking at the significance and the key battles ahead of WRC-2015.

Our second feature story looks at the regulatory situation in India, a market that is a hive of activity for the satellite industry, and also one of the fastest growing markets for DTH anywhere in the world. With much more capacity needed to serve this market, we look at what needs to be done from a regulatory point of view.

In our Perspective feature, Via Satellite’s Managing Editor, Veronica Magan writes about her experience attending the SpaceX launch of SES 8, which was to prove a bittersweet experience.

Finally, we have an exclusive in our digital edition where we will reveal the nominees to win Satellite Executive of the Year for 2013. It will definitely be a close contest this year, with a number of outstanding candidates up for the award. We look forward to revealing the winner in next month’s edition.