The plight of Malaysian Airlines flight MH-370 has struck a chord with everybody — whether you are a frequent flyer or not. At the time of going to press, we still do not exactly know what happened. Firstly, on behalf of Via Satellite, I would like to offer my condolences to all the families of the passengers and flight staff on board.

While people in our industry are aware of just how much satellites touch our lives, I often wonder whether people outside our industry realize the importance of the technologies we talk about on a daily basis.

Whether it is leading the recovery efforts in the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan or helping find the Malaysian Airlines flight, satellites are a vital part of the overall communications infrastructure. Some of the best stories I hear about our industry are on how our technology helps others. Recent events only emphasize the important and wonderful work our industry does.

At SATELLITE 2014, Eutelsat CEO Michel de Rosen spoke about the need to attract more women to our industry, and in this edition we put the spotlight on some of satellite’s key female executives. We talk to Gwynne Shotwell (SpaceX), Mary Cotton (iDirect), Susan Miller (Inmarsat), Kay Sears (Intelsat General) and Peg Grayson (MTN) about their experiences working their way up, but crucially about how we can attract more young women to our industry. We also have a column from Amiee Chan, president and CEO of Norsat who was our first Via Satellite ‘Woman in Technology’ Excellence Award winner.

Also, we look at the opportunities for U.S. companies in international military markets, particularly as the U.S. milsatcom remains a tough market.

I would also like to flag up an exciting new event, the Global Connected Aircraft Summit which we are holding in California from June 3 and 4, where we will have a number of great speakers from top airlines, the FAA, Royal Caribbean, and others. For more information, please visit: gcasummit.com