SatSummit 2017 fell just days after President Trump announced his travel and immigration ban. As Eric Gundersen, CEO of Mapbox, kicked off SatSummit 2017 he acknowledged that the ban was not far from anyone’s minds. He encouraged the crowd to feel comfortable with the fact that we are living in strange times, and that he hoped this conference would affirm that just as there is a diversity in satellites and the way they are used, there is diversity in the teams that make this industry possible.

This diversity of expertise and impact was evident in the wide array of keynote speakers who kicked off the event. Carissa Christensen, of The Tauri Group, set the stage for the day by discussing key trends within the industry and what to be on the lookout for moving forward. Kevin Bullock of DigitalGlobe wowed the audience by showing what was possible with the new WorldView-4 satellite and its 30 cm imagery - including capturing a rocket launch from space! Andrew Zolli of Planet explained how their satellite constellation would disrupt the industry in the same way digital photography changed analog. Astro Digital’s Bronwyn Agrios shared lessons learned from building a UI by optimizing their API for customization, and how best to deal with the “fat data” of the satellite industry.

After discussing changes in the satellite industry, from traditional satellites to smaller satellite constellations, the conversation switched to how satellites are being used to change the development community. DigitalGlobe is using their images to do everything from tracking land tenure in Ethiopia to hurricane disaster response to even mapping chimp habitats tree by tree for the Jane Goodall Institute. Planet highlighted how it is “using space to help life on Earth” by providing massive amounts of data to the world to track changes in real-time.

The keynotes then addressed government’s role in shaping the satellite industry. Tahara Dawkins, from the Regulatory Affairs Office at NOAA discussed the government’s mandate to balance commercial viability with foreign policy, national security, and international obligations. She noted that as the satellite industry changes and becomes more accessible, the regulations that have been in place will need to adapt as well. Dawkins sees that pain point already, with the amount of licensing applications growing rapidly and the desire to engage license requests other than remote sensing of the Earth - like astro mining, satellite repair, and sensing other objects than Earth.

Ambassador Mark Brzezinski, who served the Obama administration heading up the Arctic Executive Steering Committee, closed the keynotes by highlighting the importance of coalitions and working in the public sphere, a theme that would continue throughout the rest of the conference. Brzezinski explained that the committee would not have been able to effectively share the severe impact climate change is having in the Arctic if they had not worked collaboratively with policymakers, the public, and the eight countries that share the Arctic area.

These opening keynotes were just a sampling of what set the stage for diverse and substantive conversations throughout the day on distribution, collaboration, and feedback loops.

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