The wait is over; our Satellite Executive of the Year for 2013 is Arabsat’s President & CEO, Khalid Balkheyour — our first ever winner from the Middle East.

Arabsat had a great year in 2013 with great financial results, key partnership deals, a signature acquisition, and continuing to be a strong force in the MENA markets. On behalf of the whole editorial team at Via Satellite, we would like to pass on our congratulations to Balkheyour and his team for this award.

Besides celebrating the announcement of our yearly award, in this edition we talk to a number of visionary leaders across the satellite sector about how they see the industry shaping up over the next few years. To follow on this, I will be moderating a satellite entrepreneurs panel at SATELLITE 2014, which I hope some of you will be able to attend.

This issue also brings two very different perspective stories. We talk to Jean-Yves Le Gall, one of the most recognizable faces in our industry, about his new role at CNES and the differences between this and his previous role as CEO of Arianespace. Also, Via Satellite’s Junior Editor Caleb Henry makes his first contribution to the magazine by writing about the satellite industry’s response to Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, which, once again, underlines the importance of satellite in an era where, sadly, huge natural disasters are now becoming the norm.

SATELLITE 2014 will very much set the tone for the year ahead. In our opinion pieces, Sarah Simon from Berenberg, assesses the challenges facing the new SES CEO Karim Michel Sabbagh as he takes the reins from Romain Bausch. Additionally, Carlos Placido of NSR, writes on the potential of High Throughput Satellites (HTS), another surefire key talking point at SATELLITE.

I look forward to seeing most of you at SATELLITE 2014 for what is sure to be some lively debates ranging from HTS, WRC-2015, to mobility, launch services and electric satellites. It should be a great event.