April 11, 2023 • 20 mins
What makes Australia such an important market for low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites? We talk to David Thorn, Vice President APAC from OneWeb, about why LEO technology is so relevant to Australia, OneWeb’s approach to the Australian market, and the opportunities for businesses, government, and communities.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Vocus Inspire, the podcast full of brilliant ideas
for business.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Hi, I'm Luke Coleman, head of government and corporate affairs
at Vocus, Australia's leading specialist fibre and network solutions provider.
Before we get things underway, we want to acknowledge and
pay our respects to the traditional custodians of the land
from wherever you're listening. In this podcast, we dive headfirst
into what's on the minds of Australian business and government
(00:30):
leaders to help inspire you and your organisation to go forward,
go further, and go faster. So let's go.
Welcome to the Vocus Inspire podcast, and the next part
of our discussion on the topic of space and satellite.
It's something that's getting incredible interest in the market as
(00:52):
a number of low Earth orbit, or LEO satellite operators
gear up to enter the Australian market, each with their
own unique offering. Today we'll be discussing why and how
the space and satellite industry has become so relevant to
every person on the planet and what the opportunities and challenges.
are for businesses and government. Our special guest today is
(01:14):
David Thorn from OneWeb. David is an esteemed IT executive
and is the vice president of the Asia Pacific region
at OneWeb, which is a global communications network powered by
a constellation of 648 LEO satellites, enabling high speed, low
latency connectivity for governments and businesses. Welcome to the podcast, David.
(01:38):
Thanks, Luke, thanks very much a pleasure to be here.
I hope I got that figure right there, 648 low
Earth orbit satellites. I'm sure you're keeping tabs on each
individual one. Why don't you, um, start off today by
telling me a little bit more about OneWeb's role in
the satellite ecosystem. We're in the, um, LEO orbit of
um 1200 kilometres from the equator. Those 648 satellites that
(02:04):
you mentioned are in,
A polar orbit, so, um, you know, circling north to
south or south to north, depending on what way you
look at it, and, and of course, then the Earth is, uh,
is spinning east to west. So, we need those 648 satellites,
we we've arranged them, the constellation very much like a,
(02:26):
like the segments of an orange. So, the satellites are
moving north to south, and then you uh you switch
between satellites as um as they come over.
A geographical land mass, and switch between those segments of
the orange as the as the earth continues to to rotate.
The big benefit, as you would know, would be um latency. Traditionally,
(02:52):
satellites were in geostationary orbits, which are some 36,000 kilometres
away from the Earth, so.
The, you know, just physics alone, the, the speed of
light means that, you know, the very best you're gonna
get is half a second worth of delay, and in,
in today's world of, of real-time video, you know, trading, audio, uh, AI, IoT, uh,
(03:16):
requirements and connectivity, the Leo constellations are far more effective
because they, they don't suffer the latency as as geo
and can be deployed much more readily.
Um, because the, um, user terminals that are on the
ground are, uh, much smaller in, in scale and can
be readily deployed. So we're looking in, in one web
(03:38):
to provide global connectivity to areas that have had really
no connectivity before and allow, you know, everyone on the planet,
wherever you are in the air, on the sea, or
in a remote land mass to, uh, to have connectivity
for either.
Yeah, just basic communications or for for business applications. You
(03:59):
just mentioned some of the applications for businesses using Leo satellites.
Tell me, what are the use cases and the opportunities
for enterprise and government organisations that are really going to
be a game changer using LEOs? let's just take a
uh a scenario of.
You know, um, remote police stations in remote areas or
(04:21):
fire services or uh or ambulance, health, or, or education where,
In some of these remote locations, there is no infrastructure,
or the economic business case to build land-based infrastructure, fibre
or copper or or whatever it may be, is, is prohibitive.
(04:43):
So being able to, I guess, take communication to where
people need it, when they need it quickly, with, you know,
high speed, high reliability.
Um, means that you can start to, you know, connect
what we had called previously, the the unconnectable. That could
(05:04):
be a remote mine site, that could be a remote school,
that could be, you know, indigenous communities who, you know,
may not have had opportunities for medical screening, you know, uh, pathology,
you know, results can be, can be done quickly, or, uh,
in the event of a, uh, of a disaster.
You know, being able to rapidly deploy alternative communications, you know,
(05:26):
for disaster recovery, you know, Leo isn't the answer to
all communications, but it certainly has its place to play,
where previously, as I say, it may have taken, you know, weeks, months,
and in some cases even years to deploy infrastructure into
a particular location. Um, it can be, you know, Leo
(05:47):
can be deployed quickly, a service can be up and running,
a child can be found.
You know, an ambulance crew or a fire crew can
get vital information about, um, you know, what's happening with,
with the weather or how a patient's health is, and
start to use those services. And typically as well for businesses,
as AI becomes more and more prevalent, remote, unmanned mining
(06:11):
stations or, or, or remote outback.
Uh, locations can all now be serviced, uh, potentially by,
by Leo, whereas, whereas before, you know, if you were
doing a, let's say a mining exploration in a very remote, uh,
location where you may or may not find, you know,
(06:32):
deposits or, or whatever, whatever it may be, those locations
now can put a quick, um, you know, transportable Leo device.
Get connectivity, get up and running, you know, provide information
back to HQ around mineral deposits or whatever else it
may be, and, and if there's none there, they can
just move to the next site. So, I I think
(06:53):
rapid deployment, disaster recovery, and more and more on the move.
Type of um um services are gonna be um really
in a sweet spot of of where Leo can start
to play in helping businesses and remote communities and, you know,
as I say, anything from medical through right way through
to mining resources and and finance.
(07:14):
Now, Leo satellites, they might be a fairly new and
innovative technology, but it is a market that is already
seeing some intense competition. I think OneWeb was the first
brand name that I had heard that I first associated
with Leo satellites, but we're now also hearing it.
About what Starlink is doing, what Amazon Kuiper is planning, what,
what Telesat is doing, so tell me, what is it
(07:37):
that OneWeb is focusing on in this, in very competitive space.
The competition is, is mounting. Starlink have done a,
Uh, you know, a great job, and their, their, their
product is direct to consumer, which, you know, is providing
connectivity to, you know, residences in, in, uh, remote locations
across the world. Our model's slightly different. We, we're focusing on, um,
(08:00):
offering the same level of services that you would get
on fixed-based services, so land-based services like fibre optic with
a service level agreement, you know, a committed performance rate.
Um, so that we can enhance the portfolio of our
distribution partners, and Vocus is a very important distribution partner
for us, yeah, in Australia and potentially New Zealand as we,
(08:23):
as we grow the constellation. So, we're looking at all
the things that our distribution partners are already doing well
with their fixed portfolio and seeing how we can enhance that.
With things like on the move, aviation, maritime, whereas before
they may have been um industry verticals that our distribution
(08:47):
partners have not necessarily been strong in or or had
a portfolio to do and with Leo now, they could
offer the same services to those organisations that they may
be currently offering for fixed-based services.
Now, with a, on the move or on the pause
base using, using Leo. So, our differentiation, we believe, is, is,
(09:09):
obviously the speed to market, the constellation will be ready, uh,
the products and services that we're providing, and our key
distribution partners and their relationships with their customers, rather than
having a, a direct to consumer, uh, product ourselves.
Looking around the world, uh, a lot of the space
(09:31):
and satellite operators, they're coming from the United States, they're
coming from Europe, we're seeing developments in China, in India.
Tell me about Australia and how is Australia positioned to
develop a sovereign space and satellite industry? The the sheer
land mass of uh of Australia,
Makes Australia a very, very interesting, um, location. So, back
(09:55):
to your first question, if you remember the, those orbital
segments that I spoke about. Well, the landmass of Australia
actually spans three of those orbital segments, which means that
in Australia we have 3 ground station capabilities, so we
can offer,
Uh, government organisations or organisations that are sensitive around data sovereignty,
(10:20):
you know, uh, absolute surety that their information, albeit is,
is leaving the planet and going to space, is actually
staying within the span of the, uh, of, of the
Australian geographical footprint for, for Leo. So we're not using
inter satellite links, the, if you originate data on the
(10:41):
east coast and,
It needs to be transmitted to the west coast. You,
you can rest assured that um that data sovereignty will,
will be maintained. And Australia as well has, has always
been very well known for innovations in space, you know,
right the way through the work that was that that
was done around the um uh the early Apollo missions,
(11:05):
you know, was uh was was backed up by Australia.
You know, the innovation that comes out of CSIRO, in fact, organisations,
you know, like Vocus, uh, for example, you know, trying
to provide ground infrastructure for, for new satellite operators is leading. So,
I think Australia has a huge place to play within,
(11:26):
within that ecosystem, for example, Oneeb,
In Australia are using the Australian segments to pre-launch all
of our fixed aviation and maritime products, because we can
um keep the data within one country envelope and we
can spread between segments without having people on multiple continents, so.
(11:50):
Yeah, really exciting time for uh for innovation in uh
in in space and uh and satellite communications in in Australia.
It used to be a global event when a uh
a satellite or a space shuttle launched. Now it seems
it happens every single day, then they're launched in their
dozens when they do go up in the air. The
industry has just developed so rapidly in recent years. So,
(12:14):
tell me, David, what are some of the challenges that
the satellite industry is going to face when it is
managing such rapid growth?
Yeah, I think you, you hit the nail on the head. We,
we suffered at the hands of the um conflict in
Ukraine because we were launching, you know, using existing facilities
(12:35):
in in Kazakhstan to launch our spacecraft with our um.
Our satellites on board and unfortunately because of the conflict.
The assets were seized, which put a delay in uh
in our operational readiness state of, of, of many months, um,
notwithstanding the cost of of that happening as well. So
(12:58):
ground infrastructure and launch facilities, in competition of who's gonna
provide the actual launch, you know, spacecraft, you know, um,
rocket craft, what happens in the event of, you know, failure.
How you can use existing ground infrastructure, not just launch facilities,
(13:20):
but telemetry facilities across uh multiple locations, and some of
the geopolitical issues that we're facing at the moment do carry,
you know, significant risk for for space operators because you
can't offer, although it's our um intended mission to offer
services everywhere, and there's no barrier from a technology perspective,
(13:43):
there's certainly a barrier from a.
Sovereignty and geopolitical um perspective in in some locations, so,
we're facing into these, we're facing into, you know, the
responsible use of space as well, um, you know, ensuring
that the more craft that we put,
In orbit around, uh, around our globe, that, you know,
(14:04):
when they come end of life, they're disposed of responsibly.
And that's, um, you know, one of our stated missions that, uh,
that we do. We leave enough fuel on board to
ensure that we can dispose of the spacecraft responsibly, whereas
some others traditionally have not done that. And, and, you know,
there's a, there's a bit of junk sort of spinning,
(14:25):
spinning around that, that needs to be cleaned up. So,
as an industry,
We need to get together and make sure that everyone
is uh is playing on the same page in in
in in terms of um what we do with the
um with the out of life craft that are orbiting
the Earth.
Now amidst all of this global competition in the industry,
(14:47):
is it realistic that Australia can make a difference and
how important is it that we have our own homegrown
space industry?
Yeah, look, I, it's, as I mentioned earlier, I think, uh,
as a, as a continent, as a geographical land mass,
you know, with lots of populations around, around the um
the coast, and such a huge continent with indigenous people,
(15:10):
remote communities.
Uh, farming areas, IoT, how Australia can really start to
influence the whole industry, as I mentioned, is that combination of,
Providing ground infrastructure, offering sovereignty, you know, getting local councils
(15:32):
to work with, you know, national states and federal government
to start to, um, you know, really make a difference
to some of those communities that have never had a
decent communication before, so.
I mentioned earlier, yeah, the history of Australia in in
space and space technology is very rich and, and it
has a, has a great history, and I think it's
(15:55):
well primed with the combination of high-speed fibre networks that
are now available, uh, the data centre infrastructure that's available,
and now the combination of wireless, including Leo and mobile connectivity,
really sets Australia up for,
(16:15):
Uh, you know, providing really high quality, you know, it's,
it's the benchmark of, of how you would build and
extend communication networks using all of, all of those technologies
including space.
Now I'm gonna move to a slightly uh different line
of questions now. We're going to go into a segment
(16:35):
which we call oneish, where you've got the chance to
put out one call, one request, one wish to all
leaders of enterprise and government organisations, uh, in order to
realise a great opportunity or to avoid missing, uh, something huge.
So if you had one wish that you could put
out there for all business and government leaders, what would
(16:56):
it be and why?
I think following some of the significant privacy hacks that
would uh we we've experienced with, with, you know, some
of our, our leading organisations here in Australia.
I would call out that there's better collaboration around data privacy,
(17:19):
what's happening, uh, and people being open around if they're
being hacked on their networks, etc. I think for government
and enterprise leaders, that sharing of information, sharing of what
their experience is.
Would do a lot to help prevent any future attacks
like that on people's privacy or medical records, etc. So
(17:42):
that would be my, my big call out, my big wish. Perfect.
Now we're gonna move into a segment where I'm gonna
throw some rapid fire questions at you, a series of
quick questions. Give me the first thing that pops into
your head, a short and sharp response to each of
these ones. So, let's go. First, what's your favourite piece
of technology? I love satcoms, absolutely love satcoms. The whole,
(18:03):
Thought of launching something into space, using it as a
communication device, um, you know, flying them, steering them, you know,
I think it's just fantastic technology, so.
How do you disconnect? Oh, I sleep when I can. And, um,
I must admit that's, uh, you're working for, uh, a
(18:26):
business that's based out of the UK, some of the
hours on conference calls can be a bit, um, a
bit crazy, but, uh, yeah, I look, I look forward
to a good night's sleep.
What's one of the most important things you do for
your well-being? Oh, I've got, um, uh, a small boat,
and I just love being out on the, uh, on
(18:46):
the water. So that's my, that's my escapism. What's the
one thing that would surprise people about you? Or?
Um, I'm a 2nd down in Jiu-jitsu, 1st down in karate, and, uh,
1st down in, uh, traditional Japanese judo. Very impressive, nobody
pick a fight with David. Now, what is the one
(19:09):
personal trait most important to success?
Determination.
Don't quit, even if it gets tough. What's the one
thing there needs to be more of in business today?
I mentioned it in the earlier segment, collaboration, I think,
to grow,
Our industry to grow business for the greater good of everyone,
(19:31):
better collaboration, and that doesn't mean giving up your IP
what it means is, you know,
Working on those core values and, and getting people to
communicate better together. David, thank you so much for being
with us today. The work that you are doing and
the work that OneWeb is doing is absolutely fascinating, and
I am certain is going to change everything we know
(19:52):
about telecommunications over the next few years. So thank you
so much for joining us on the podcast today. Been
an absolute pleasure, Luke. Thanks so much.
Thanks so much for listening. I hope you've enjoyed this
episode of Focus Inspire, and we look forward to bringing
you more inspiration in coming episodes. If you've enjoyed this conversation,
we've got so much more to share with you. We've
(20:12):
just released a detailed report called Connectivity for.
0.0 the new business imperative, featuring trends and insights from
industry leaders and experts and importantly, practical steps to help
you lead your organisation through change. Head to our website
at ocus.com.au to download the full report.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
And don't forget, if you want more inspiration and more episodes,
head to Vocus.com.au/podcast. You can follow us on LinkedIn and
Twitter to stay up to date with all things Vocus.
Listen out for the next episode of the Vocus Inspire podcast.
Welcome to Vocus Inspire, the podcast full of brilliant ideas
for business.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Hi, I'm Luke Coleman, head of government and corporate affairs
at Vocus, Australia's leading specialist fibre and network solutions provider.
Before we get things underway, we want to acknowledge and
pay our respects to the traditional custodians of the land
from wherever you're listening. In this podcast, we dive headfirst
into what's on the minds of Australian business and government
(00:30):
leaders to help inspire you and your organisation to go forward,
go further, and go faster. So let's go.
Welcome to the Vocus Inspire podcast, and the next part
of our discussion on the topic of space and satellite.
It's something that's getting incredible interest in the market as
(00:52):
a number of low Earth orbit, or LEO satellite operators
gear up to enter the Australian market, each with their
own unique offering. Today we'll be discussing why and how
the space and satellite industry has become so relevant to
every person on the planet and what the opportunities and challenges.
are for businesses and government. Our special guest today is
(01:14):
David Thorn from OneWeb. David is an esteemed IT executive
and is the vice president of the Asia Pacific region
at OneWeb, which is a global communications network powered by
a constellation of 648 LEO satellites, enabling high speed, low
latency connectivity for governments and businesses. Welcome to the podcast, David.
(01:38):
Thanks, Luke, thanks very much a pleasure to be here.
I hope I got that figure right there, 648 low
Earth orbit satellites. I'm sure you're keeping tabs on each
individual one. Why don't you, um, start off today by
telling me a little bit more about OneWeb's role in
the satellite ecosystem. We're in the, um, LEO orbit of
um 1200 kilometres from the equator. Those 648 satellites that
(02:04):
you mentioned are in,
A polar orbit, so, um, you know, circling north to
south or south to north, depending on what way you
look at it, and, and of course, then the Earth is, uh,
is spinning east to west. So, we need those 648 satellites,
we we've arranged them, the constellation very much like a,
(02:26):
like the segments of an orange. So, the satellites are
moving north to south, and then you uh you switch
between satellites as um as they come over.
A geographical land mass, and switch between those segments of
the orange as the as the earth continues to to rotate.
The big benefit, as you would know, would be um latency. Traditionally,
(02:52):
satellites were in geostationary orbits, which are some 36,000 kilometres
away from the Earth, so.
The, you know, just physics alone, the, the speed of
light means that, you know, the very best you're gonna
get is half a second worth of delay, and in,
in today's world of, of real-time video, you know, trading, audio, uh, AI, IoT, uh,
(03:16):
requirements and connectivity, the Leo constellations are far more effective
because they, they don't suffer the latency as as geo
and can be deployed much more readily.
Um, because the, um, user terminals that are on the
ground are, uh, much smaller in, in scale and can
be readily deployed. So we're looking in, in one web
(03:38):
to provide global connectivity to areas that have had really
no connectivity before and allow, you know, everyone on the planet,
wherever you are in the air, on the sea, or
in a remote land mass to, uh, to have connectivity
for either.
Yeah, just basic communications or for for business applications. You
(03:59):
just mentioned some of the applications for businesses using Leo satellites.
Tell me, what are the use cases and the opportunities
for enterprise and government organisations that are really going to
be a game changer using LEOs? let's just take a
uh a scenario of.
You know, um, remote police stations in remote areas or
(04:21):
fire services or uh or ambulance, health, or, or education where,
In some of these remote locations, there is no infrastructure,
or the economic business case to build land-based infrastructure, fibre
or copper or or whatever it may be, is, is prohibitive.
(04:43):
So being able to, I guess, take communication to where
people need it, when they need it quickly, with, you know,
high speed, high reliability.
Um, means that you can start to, you know, connect
what we had called previously, the the unconnectable. That could
(05:04):
be a remote mine site, that could be a remote school,
that could be, you know, indigenous communities who, you know,
may not have had opportunities for medical screening, you know, uh, pathology,
you know, results can be, can be done quickly, or, uh,
in the event of a, uh, of a disaster.
You know, being able to rapidly deploy alternative communications, you know,
(05:26):
for disaster recovery, you know, Leo isn't the answer to
all communications, but it certainly has its place to play,
where previously, as I say, it may have taken, you know, weeks, months,
and in some cases even years to deploy infrastructure into
a particular location. Um, it can be, you know, Leo
(05:47):
can be deployed quickly, a service can be up and running,
a child can be found.
You know, an ambulance crew or a fire crew can
get vital information about, um, you know, what's happening with,
with the weather or how a patient's health is, and
start to use those services. And typically as well for businesses,
as AI becomes more and more prevalent, remote, unmanned mining
(06:11):
stations or, or, or remote outback.
Uh, locations can all now be serviced, uh, potentially by,
by Leo, whereas, whereas before, you know, if you were
doing a, let's say a mining exploration in a very remote, uh,
location where you may or may not find, you know,
(06:32):
deposits or, or whatever, whatever it may be, those locations
now can put a quick, um, you know, transportable Leo device.
Get connectivity, get up and running, you know, provide information
back to HQ around mineral deposits or whatever else it
may be, and, and if there's none there, they can
just move to the next site. So, I I think
(06:53):
rapid deployment, disaster recovery, and more and more on the move.
Type of um um services are gonna be um really
in a sweet spot of of where Leo can start
to play in helping businesses and remote communities and, you know,
as I say, anything from medical through right way through
to mining resources and and finance.
(07:14):
Now, Leo satellites, they might be a fairly new and
innovative technology, but it is a market that is already
seeing some intense competition. I think OneWeb was the first
brand name that I had heard that I first associated
with Leo satellites, but we're now also hearing it.
About what Starlink is doing, what Amazon Kuiper is planning, what,
what Telesat is doing, so tell me, what is it
(07:37):
that OneWeb is focusing on in this, in very competitive space.
The competition is, is mounting. Starlink have done a,
Uh, you know, a great job, and their, their, their
product is direct to consumer, which, you know, is providing
connectivity to, you know, residences in, in, uh, remote locations
across the world. Our model's slightly different. We, we're focusing on, um,
(08:00):
offering the same level of services that you would get
on fixed-based services, so land-based services like fibre optic with
a service level agreement, you know, a committed performance rate.
Um, so that we can enhance the portfolio of our
distribution partners, and Vocus is a very important distribution partner
for us, yeah, in Australia and potentially New Zealand as we,
(08:23):
as we grow the constellation. So, we're looking at all
the things that our distribution partners are already doing well
with their fixed portfolio and seeing how we can enhance that.
With things like on the move, aviation, maritime, whereas before
they may have been um industry verticals that our distribution
(08:47):
partners have not necessarily been strong in or or had
a portfolio to do and with Leo now, they could
offer the same services to those organisations that they may
be currently offering for fixed-based services.
Now, with a, on the move or on the pause
base using, using Leo. So, our differentiation, we believe, is, is,
(09:09):
obviously the speed to market, the constellation will be ready, uh,
the products and services that we're providing, and our key
distribution partners and their relationships with their customers, rather than
having a, a direct to consumer, uh, product ourselves.
Looking around the world, uh, a lot of the space
(09:31):
and satellite operators, they're coming from the United States, they're
coming from Europe, we're seeing developments in China, in India.
Tell me about Australia and how is Australia positioned to
develop a sovereign space and satellite industry? The the sheer
land mass of uh of Australia,
Makes Australia a very, very interesting, um, location. So, back
(09:55):
to your first question, if you remember the, those orbital
segments that I spoke about. Well, the landmass of Australia
actually spans three of those orbital segments, which means that
in Australia we have 3 ground station capabilities, so we
can offer,
Uh, government organisations or organisations that are sensitive around data sovereignty,
(10:20):
you know, uh, absolute surety that their information, albeit is,
is leaving the planet and going to space, is actually
staying within the span of the, uh, of, of the
Australian geographical footprint for, for Leo. So we're not using
inter satellite links, the, if you originate data on the
(10:41):
east coast and,
It needs to be transmitted to the west coast. You,
you can rest assured that um that data sovereignty will,
will be maintained. And Australia as well has, has always
been very well known for innovations in space, you know,
right the way through the work that was that that
was done around the um uh the early Apollo missions,
(11:05):
you know, was uh was was backed up by Australia.
You know, the innovation that comes out of CSIRO, in fact, organisations,
you know, like Vocus, uh, for example, you know, trying
to provide ground infrastructure for, for new satellite operators is leading. So,
I think Australia has a huge place to play within,
(11:26):
within that ecosystem, for example, Oneeb,
In Australia are using the Australian segments to pre-launch all
of our fixed aviation and maritime products, because we can
um keep the data within one country envelope and we
can spread between segments without having people on multiple continents, so.
(11:50):
Yeah, really exciting time for uh for innovation in uh
in in space and uh and satellite communications in in Australia.
It used to be a global event when a uh
a satellite or a space shuttle launched. Now it seems
it happens every single day, then they're launched in their
dozens when they do go up in the air. The
industry has just developed so rapidly in recent years. So,
(12:14):
tell me, David, what are some of the challenges that
the satellite industry is going to face when it is
managing such rapid growth?
Yeah, I think you, you hit the nail on the head. We,
we suffered at the hands of the um conflict in
Ukraine because we were launching, you know, using existing facilities
(12:35):
in in Kazakhstan to launch our spacecraft with our um.
Our satellites on board and unfortunately because of the conflict.
The assets were seized, which put a delay in uh
in our operational readiness state of, of, of many months, um,
notwithstanding the cost of of that happening as well. So
(12:58):
ground infrastructure and launch facilities, in competition of who's gonna
provide the actual launch, you know, spacecraft, you know, um,
rocket craft, what happens in the event of, you know, failure.
How you can use existing ground infrastructure, not just launch facilities,
(13:20):
but telemetry facilities across uh multiple locations, and some of
the geopolitical issues that we're facing at the moment do carry,
you know, significant risk for for space operators because you
can't offer, although it's our um intended mission to offer
services everywhere, and there's no barrier from a technology perspective,
(13:43):
there's certainly a barrier from a.
Sovereignty and geopolitical um perspective in in some locations, so,
we're facing into these, we're facing into, you know, the
responsible use of space as well, um, you know, ensuring
that the more craft that we put,
In orbit around, uh, around our globe, that, you know,
(14:04):
when they come end of life, they're disposed of responsibly.
And that's, um, you know, one of our stated missions that, uh,
that we do. We leave enough fuel on board to
ensure that we can dispose of the spacecraft responsibly, whereas
some others traditionally have not done that. And, and, you know,
there's a, there's a bit of junk sort of spinning,
(14:25):
spinning around that, that needs to be cleaned up. So,
as an industry,
We need to get together and make sure that everyone
is uh is playing on the same page in in
in in terms of um what we do with the
um with the out of life craft that are orbiting
the Earth.
Now amidst all of this global competition in the industry,
(14:47):
is it realistic that Australia can make a difference and
how important is it that we have our own homegrown
space industry?
Yeah, look, I, it's, as I mentioned earlier, I think, uh,
as a, as a continent, as a geographical land mass,
you know, with lots of populations around, around the um
the coast, and such a huge continent with indigenous people,
(15:10):
remote communities.
Uh, farming areas, IoT, how Australia can really start to
influence the whole industry, as I mentioned, is that combination of,
Providing ground infrastructure, offering sovereignty, you know, getting local councils
(15:32):
to work with, you know, national states and federal government
to start to, um, you know, really make a difference
to some of those communities that have never had a
decent communication before, so.
I mentioned earlier, yeah, the history of Australia in in
space and space technology is very rich and, and it
has a, has a great history, and I think it's
(15:55):
well primed with the combination of high-speed fibre networks that
are now available, uh, the data centre infrastructure that's available,
and now the combination of wireless, including Leo and mobile connectivity,
really sets Australia up for,
(16:15):
Uh, you know, providing really high quality, you know, it's,
it's the benchmark of, of how you would build and
extend communication networks using all of, all of those technologies
including space.
Now I'm gonna move to a slightly uh different line
of questions now. We're going to go into a segment
(16:35):
which we call oneish, where you've got the chance to
put out one call, one request, one wish to all
leaders of enterprise and government organisations, uh, in order to
realise a great opportunity or to avoid missing, uh, something huge.
So if you had one wish that you could put
out there for all business and government leaders, what would
(16:56):
it be and why?
I think following some of the significant privacy hacks that
would uh we we've experienced with, with, you know, some
of our, our leading organisations here in Australia.
I would call out that there's better collaboration around data privacy,
(17:19):
what's happening, uh, and people being open around if they're
being hacked on their networks, etc. I think for government
and enterprise leaders, that sharing of information, sharing of what
their experience is.
Would do a lot to help prevent any future attacks
like that on people's privacy or medical records, etc. So
(17:42):
that would be my, my big call out, my big wish. Perfect.
Now we're gonna move into a segment where I'm gonna
throw some rapid fire questions at you, a series of
quick questions. Give me the first thing that pops into
your head, a short and sharp response to each of
these ones. So, let's go. First, what's your favourite piece
of technology? I love satcoms, absolutely love satcoms. The whole,
(18:03):
Thought of launching something into space, using it as a
communication device, um, you know, flying them, steering them, you know,
I think it's just fantastic technology, so.
How do you disconnect? Oh, I sleep when I can. And, um,
I must admit that's, uh, you're working for, uh, a
(18:26):
business that's based out of the UK, some of the
hours on conference calls can be a bit, um, a
bit crazy, but, uh, yeah, I look, I look forward
to a good night's sleep.
What's one of the most important things you do for
your well-being? Oh, I've got, um, uh, a small boat,
and I just love being out on the, uh, on
(18:46):
the water. So that's my, that's my escapism. What's the
one thing that would surprise people about you? Or?
Um, I'm a 2nd down in Jiu-jitsu, 1st down in karate, and, uh,
1st down in, uh, traditional Japanese judo. Very impressive, nobody
pick a fight with David. Now, what is the one
(19:09):
personal trait most important to success?
Determination.
Don't quit, even if it gets tough. What's the one
thing there needs to be more of in business today?
I mentioned it in the earlier segment, collaboration, I think,
to grow,
Our industry to grow business for the greater good of everyone,
(19:31):
better collaboration, and that doesn't mean giving up your IP
what it means is, you know,
Working on those core values and, and getting people to
communicate better together. David, thank you so much for being
with us today. The work that you are doing and
the work that OneWeb is doing is absolutely fascinating, and
I am certain is going to change everything we know
(19:52):
about telecommunications over the next few years. So thank you
so much for joining us on the podcast today. Been
an absolute pleasure, Luke. Thanks so much.
Thanks so much for listening. I hope you've enjoyed this
episode of Focus Inspire, and we look forward to bringing
you more inspiration in coming episodes. If you've enjoyed this conversation,
we've got so much more to share with you. We've
(20:12):
just released a detailed report called Connectivity for.
0.0 the new business imperative, featuring trends and insights from
industry leaders and experts and importantly, practical steps to help
you lead your organisation through change. Head to our website
at ocus.com.au to download the full report.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
And don't forget, if you want more inspiration and more episodes,
head to Vocus.com.au/podcast. You can follow us on LinkedIn and
Twitter to stay up to date with all things Vocus.
Listen out for the next episode of the Vocus Inspire podcast.
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