Dear Patrons,

SIA-India announces a Conference on "Satellite Ground Segment in India - Way forward" on Friday, 17th of December 2021 from 1400 to 1830 Hrs (IST).

In another significant effort by SIA-India this is the first such conference in the country to discuss and deliberate on the way forward for the Ground Segment industry at a time when SpaceCom policy is being formed and consultation is in process to address the regulatory and policy measures required in drafting the framework for the satellite gateways.

The Satellite Ground Segments is a critical link between the satellites and the earth stations and is a vital backbone to the entire Satellite Industry. It is a less addressed sector in India however it is a critical sector especially at a time when LEO and MEO technologies are set to be leveraged commercially on a large scale in the country opening up many business cases, partnerships and collaborations between various stakeholders to establish an effective infrastructure architecture for these new generation system.

The National Digital Communications Policy (NDCP 2018) lays due emphasis on strengthening satellite Communication Technologies in India. Much discussion has focused on the space segment, ranging from investments and announcements related to business models and technology. In comparison, the "ground" segment in the industry is just beginning to ramp up, and needs to keep pace with discussions around industry developments such as NGSO HTS constellations, software defined radio, network function virtualization, and flat panel antennas, amongst others. It is only now that the wider Big Data industry recognizes a market gap in the satellite value chain, one that it is well positioned to address.

The ground segment requirements are different from conventional satellites that India was dealing with before and hence, the GOI is looking at creating new facilitating policies and looking at the best practices followed internationally. Ground segment is a very important part of Satellite communication ecosystem and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), has requested TRAI to furnish recommendations on whether there is a need of a policy framework to be followed by the Satellite operator/Earth Station licensee for provision of satellite-based resources.

To share their views the conference has a fabulous line up of eminent speakers from the Dept. of Telecom, ISRO, TCIL, ITI , NTIPRIT and the leading industry heads from Ananth Technologies, RBC Signal, Dhruva Space, Astorome, INMARSAT, Intelsat, K-Sat, Thales, Hughes, Telesat and domestic and international space startups. TSDSI, IEEE and SIA-India will also be conducting a joint workshop during the conference 'Standardisation in Satellite ground segment'

The conference would deliberate upon the following key segments:

• Satellite Ground Segment Technologies: The underlying technology, Multi-frequency operations including optical, Software-defined networking, virtualization, Manufacturing and collaborations, Cloudification, Security etc.
• Satellite Ground Segment Business Economics: Pricing models, Business drivers, Operational models (Captive vs shared use vs Uberization vs Owning fleet of GS), Regulatory hurdles and case study of international best practice
• Standardization in Satellite Ground Segment: The need, efforts and developments on Standardization and global harmonization that impact the Satellite Ground Segment

This timely conference is planned to coincide with the TRAI's CP on Licensing Framework for Establishing Satellite Earth Station Gateway. SIA-India will be actively involved in submitting industry response to the Regulator and participate in subsequent Open House deliberations.

We request for your valuable participation at the virtual conference. For registration please follow the link: https://www.sia-india.com/upcoming-events/109-virtual-conference-on-satellite-ground-segment-in-india-way-forward.html

SIA-India participated in the National Conference on strengthening the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' organised by Shobhit University on Saturday, 10 December, 2021. Shobhit University a renowned university of engineering and technology. The focus of the national conference was based on agriculture and digital technology. The event was a physical conference held in Hotel Le Meridian, New Delhi, and was widely attended by many dignitaries.

Mr. Anil Prakash, DG, SIA-India spoke at the conference on the importance of Open Source technology. He highlighted upon the potential of the Indian open source ecosystem not being fully explored and a robust open source community will benefit greatly from an organised alliance of all stakeholders, developers, industry, academia, and government. Open source ecosystem can provide technology that is less expensive and more accessible with a framework of transnational collaboration crucial to the future of all tech driven sectors including in sophisticated space endeavors.

Turbidite Limited, Asia's newest edge data center platform and Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited (AsiaSat), a premier satellite solutions provider, announced a partnership that will leverage AsiaSat's existing satellite and ground infrastructure with Turbidite's dynamic edge data center platform to support the accelerated demand for digital services.

This partnership will bring together the expertise and skills of the two companies to provide hosting services alongside satellite and ground-based connectivity.

The Satcom Industry Association (SIA-India) is a non-profit association. As a young and vibrant association, SIA-India strives to extend the benefits of satcom innovation and technology development to society as an effective bridge for the digital divide by helping leverage satellite solutions in synergy with terrestrial access technologies to support economies of scale, reach and robustness.

In the short few months since our inception we have been able to make our presence felt and our inputs have been taken well by the relevant authorities. Here we list a few of our achievements:

As part of our outreach programs, we promote innovation hubs to support young talents in technology and engineering especially in relation to space and satellite technologies. SIA on advice from ISRO is in the process to support/facilitate incubation centres and training workshops and awareness programmes.

The association is in touch with US-India Business Council (USIBC) and Finland Embassy to spearhead the process. IIT Bombay, MIT, NALSAR University, Shobhit University and MIT World Peace University have agreed to join SIA India in furthering the Academia outreach.

SIA-India is associated with various international bodies, industry associations, and Govt bodies such as TSDSI, TEC, ITU, 3GPP, ETSI, IEEE, C-DOT, Telecom Equipment and Services Export Promotion Council (TEPC), Invest India and so on.

• Indo-Nepal Cooperation- Antrikchya to extend its cooperation in promoting science and technology in the country.
• MOU with SPACETIDE Foundation, a Tokyo-based non-profit organization that performs cross-industry activities, aiming at the development and expansion of the space industry in Japan
• MOU with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), worlds largest professional technical organization for the advancement of space technology.
• MOU with USIBC towards creating closer ties for space industry between USA and India.

Public Policy Advocacy: SIA-India has been actively involved in various Consultation processes by relevant Govt agencies and has made strong representations with inputs from stakeholders. SIA India's representation to DOT on 'Acceptance of TRAI recommendations on Provision of Cellular Backhaul Connectivity via Satellite through VSAT under Commercial VSAT CUG Authorization' was very well received. DCC has approved implementation of the recommendations in favour of the SatCom Industry. Representation to TRAI on CP for 'Licensing framework for Satellite based connectivity for low bit-rate applications' had TRAI making favorable recommendations to DOT in similar lines of SIA-India submission.

SIA-India's 'Legal cell' supported by 8 leading law firms specialising in Satellite-centric issues, is created to aid and help young startups have easy access to expert legal opinion and to navigate their way across international treaties, matters of taxation, M&A among other issues.

There are various committees addressing Space Infrastructure and manufacturing, Space Law, Startups, Academic outreach and Capacity building.

SIA-India is poised to take its rightful place as the 'Thought Leader' for Satellite industry in India and we look forward to opening newer avenues for businesses and front-ending the industry's issues and challenges.

We invite you to join SIA-India as a member in one of the various categories and help us serve the industry better.