Halston Horizon Dark Skies: Building Britain’s Satcom Backbone: The Recap
The UK space strategy has put £2.8 billion behind satcom through to 2030, and the supply chain wants to know what that means for it. That was the focus of our latest Halston Horizon Dark Skies webinar, the first since the strategy landed.
Hosted by Georgia Halston, the session brought together Tudor Williams, CTO at Filtronic, Dr Hina Khan, Head of Commercial at Craft Prospect, and Andy Campbell, Founder of Space Network. Each took on satcom from a different angle: RF hardware, quantum secure communications, and supply chain growth.
Attendees joined the conversation throughout, with a Q&A at the end. Real expertise, plenty of honesty, and no fluff.
Scaling Satcom for the Mega Constellation Era
Filtronic builds the RF front end for satcom, covering everything between the modem and the antenna, on both the ground and satellite side. Five years ago, Tudor explained, the company had almost no space business. Today it accounts for around 80% of revenue, following a pivot from telecoms that has now delivered its largest ever SpaceX order.
His view was that telecoms experience gave Filtronic a volume manufacturing mindset from day one, and that mega constellation players now push technology harder than the terrestrial telecoms market does. The shift from gallium arsenide to gallium nitride gave SpaceX more output power, and with it complex modulation schemes and bigger bandwidth links. It also brought tougher thermal management challenges, which Filtronic tackles by staying vertically integrated from chip design through to final test.
Demand for data is also driving the industry up the frequency range. Filtronic already works in E-band, is seeing first demonstrators in W-band, and is starting its D-band roadmap, which will likely need a different manufacturing approach. Supplier relationships matter more as a result. Tudor described them as partnerships rather than transactions.
On sovereign capability, his message was pragmatic. The UK doesn’t need to do everything at home, but it does need to embed the critical pieces, such as ground gateways. Commercial success with constellations is what funds that capability and makes it available to defence.
Quantum Secure Communications in Orbit
Craft Prospect is a Glasgow-based team of around 35 space engineers focused on quantum technologies and AI autonomous systems. Hina explained that its first mission, VAULT, launches next year. The 16U small satellite will demonstrate a quantum secure link from space to ground, using light rather than radio frequencies. The quantum key adds a layer of security that tells the recipient their data hasn’t been tampered with. The mission is supported by ESA and the UK Space Agency, with BT involved as a partner.
For Hina, flight heritage is a practical necessity. Demonstrating technology in orbit builds confidence, and partnering with larger tier ones helps small businesses de-risk their technology and build relationships that keep the lights on.
She also made a strong case for taking satcom beyond the space community. Farmers don’t want satellite data, she pointed out. They want to know which part of a field needs irrigating. The answer is partnering with organisations that deliver that insight in the buyer’s language, and BT’s existing network shows how that can work at scale.
Following the Money: Practical Advice for Satcom Suppliers
Andy brought the conversation back to commercial reality. Space Network’s Connect platform brings customers, funding, talent, and expertise together in one place, and that gave him a clear view of what successful satcom businesses have in common. His advice:
- Follow the money. Watch where the strategy’s funding is being channelled and build relationships with the primes who will receive it.
- Have flight heritage, or a credible route to it.
- Build dual use into your roadmap, so you understand government and defence needs.
- Back it up with the right standards, including ISO certifications and cyber security.
- Show financial robustness to anyone who might award you a contract.
He added a counterintuitive point on sales. Before you sell, ask questions, learn what your customer needs, and use their language.
For businesses in other sectors, Andy pointed to Jaguar Land Rover’s supply chain, which has called for help moving into aerospace and defence. He argued that the skills transfer well, and that the space sector needs to keep its doors open to them. It has an insatiable appetite for talent and finance as well as data.
Key Takeaways
Satcom rewards businesses that combine strong technology with commercial awareness. The funding is there, but the panel’s message was consistent: build partnerships, prove what you can do, and talk to buyers in language they recognise.
Interested in being a part of the next Dark Skies? We’ll be talking to sector experts from Bremen Space Tech Expo, so if you’ll be attending, contact us today to discuss an interview slot.