About the event

Gateway to Space

The largest industry event on satellite communications – the 10th International Conference Satellite Russia & CIS 2018 took place on April 19-20th in Moscow.  This year, the forum gathered the heads of the State Space Corporation Roscosmos, RSCC, Gazprom Space Systems, Vnesheconombank, Russian Ministry of Communications and Federal Communications Agency (Rossviaz).

The conference was endorsed by the Federal Communications Agency (Rossviaz), State Space Corporation, European Association of Remote Sensing Companies  (EARSC), European Satellite Operator's Association (ESOA), Global VSAT Forum (GVF), National Association of TV and Radio Broadcasters (NAT), International Academy of Communications, Russian Association of Aviation and Space Insurers and National Association of Financial Organizations.

General partner of Satellite Russia & CIS 2018 was Gazprom Space Systems, Golden Sponsors were Airbus Defence and Space and SES, Bronze Sponsor were Ingosstrakh, Hughes Network Systems, VT iDirect and Thales Alenia Space. RSCC was praised for their “10 years of expertise in the Ka band. Official partner of the event was the National Satellite Company (“Tricolor TV”). SOGAZ, ISTAR, Newtec and Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd were Session Sponsors, and Advantech Satellite Networks, Inc. and AMTEL-SVIAZ were Round Table Sponsors. The conference was also supported by Iridium Communications, Agat Organization, and Russian Space Systems.

The conference kicked off with a plenary session dedicated to the present and the future of satellite communications market in Russia and abroad. Speakers at the plenary session included: Deputy Head of the Federation Communications Agency (Rossviaz) Igor Chursin, Deputy Head of the State Duma Committee for Economic Policy, Industry, Innovations and Entrepreneurship Denis Kravchenko, Head of Special Projects, Russian Ministry of Communications and Mass Media, Alexander Egorov, Head of Commercial Projects of the State Space Corporation Roscosmos Anna Kudryavtseva, Deputy Director General for Marketing and Foreign Markets of Gazprom Space Systems Igor Kot, and SES’ Senior Sales Manager Russia & CIS, Data & Mobility Services, Timur Sarsenov.

The debate over satellite communication and broadcasting networks in the new economic and technological reality continued with a discussion featuring: Regional Director of Thales Alenia Space Ashot Bakunts, RSCC’s Deputy Director General for Telecommunication Systems Evgeny Buydinov, General Director of Satellite TV MTS Alexey Ivanov, regional leader of Satellite Operators Association (ESOA) Mikhail Kaygorodov, Aide to Director General for Technical Affairs of the National Satellite Company (“Tricolor TV”) Igor Kotsarev, and  SES’ Senior Sales Manager Russia & CIS, Data & Mobility Services, Timur Sarsenov.

The next session, moderated by regional leader of Satellite Operators Association (ESOA) Mikhail Kaygorodov, was dedicated to VSAT, satellite broadband services and satellite broadcasting, and their impact on spacecraft manufacturing and launch services. Speakers included: Oleg Spodarenko, Head of Telecom Projects ad Gazprom Space Systems, Andrey Abramov, Sales Manager, carrier & corporate solutions, RSCC, Nikita Demidenko, Sales Director in Russia & CIS of VT iDirect, Inc., Pavel Bakanov, CEO of Istar, Mikhail Pykhov, CTO of Gilat Satellite Networks (Eurasia), and Konstantin Lanin, Head of representation office and Regional Director of Hughes Network Systems.

After a break, the session about VSAT, satellite broadband services and satellite broadcasting, and their impact on spacecraft manufacturing and launch services continued, this time moderated by Vladimir Glebsky, Director of Regional Projects of INTERSPUTNIK. Speakers included: Iridium Communications’ Sales Director in Russia and CIS Dmitry Tarasov, Regional Director of Thales Alenia Space Ashot Bakunts, Newtec’s Market Director for Multiservice, HTS and Enterprise Yo De Loor, Giprogazcenter’s Chief network design specialist Mikhail Smychyok, and General Director of Sea Launch Sergey Gugkaev.

A round table at the end of the first day of the conference was dedicated to investment, including private investment promotion, and ways to protect the commercial interests of satellite service providers.  Panelists included: Deputy Director General for Economics and Finance of Gazprom Space Systems Natalia Ramazanova, SOGAZ’s Specialty Underwriting Director Anton Dodonov, Project Manager, Cluster of Advanced Industrial Technologies, Nuclear and Space Technologies of the Skolkovo Foundation  Valery Komissarov, Vnesheconombank’s Head of Space and Telecom Department Alexander Mikhaylov, Deputy Head of Department for Economics and Finance of ISS Reshetnev Denis Nikolaev, Vice President of Ingosstrakh Alexander Podchufarov, Senior Vice President of Marsh Space Projects Igor Smirnov, CEO of “Malakut Sozvezdie Insurance Broker” Taras Fuzik, and President of the Russian Association of Aviation and Space Insurers Pavel Shutov.

The second day of the Forum was kicked off by a session dedicated to growth opportunities in the VSAT market. Expert speakers featured: Sergey Pekhterev, Head of AltegroSky Group, Alexey Antonenko, Head of Network Resource Planning Department, Orange Business Services Russia and CIS, Yulia Babkina, Head of Customer Directorate, Gazprom Space Systems, Nikita Demidenko, Sales Director in Russia & CIS of VT iDirect, Inc, Andrey Dmitriev, Newtec’s Regional Director for Sales and Business Development in Russia, Sergey Zykov, Solution architect at Advantech Satellite Networks, Inc., First Deputy CEO of AMTEL-Sviaz Igor Ilyinchik,  Konstantin Lanin, Head of representation office and Regional Director of Hughes Network Systems, CEO of Gilat Satellite Networks (Eurasia) Denis Stafeev, and Business Development Director of UHP Networks Oleg Timoshenko.

The conference concluded with the session entitled “Satellite communication systems on non-geostationary orbits: from projects to reality”. It gathered Andrey Mochalov from Agat Organization, Valentin Anpilogov, Deputy Director General of VISAT-TEL, Viktor Doniants, Director General of D.C.Orbital, and Yury Mishin, Project Manager of Global Multifunctional Info-communication Satellite System, Russian Space Systems.

Forum participants praised the professional organization of the event, topical business programme, and excellent networking opportunities.