Florida, USA, 30th March 2022 – The Satcoms Innovation Group has announced the winners of the second annual SIG Awards. The awards celebrate the impressive contributions that companies, individuals, and educational institutions have made to help the satellite communications industry. The winners are: Micro-AntKacific Broadband Satellites Ltd and GuarantCo Ltd, Spaceport Cornwall and Joakim Espeland, CEO, QuadSAT.

The categories were: Innovation of the Year, Cooperation of the Year, Educational Project of the Year and Young Engineer of the Year.

Helen Weedon, Managing Director, SIG, commented: “The winners of this years’ awards show real innovation, collaboration and drive. The nominations were of an extremely high standard and the board of directors had a difficult task making the final decisions. Congratulations to the winners and thank you to everyone who submitted entries.” 

Micro-Ant has won the Innovation of the Year award for successful development of its Ultra-Wide Band (3.5 GHz) Ka Antenna System. This cutting-edge system enables connectivity over extended frequency bands in Ka for satellite roaming across multiple satellite operators in all orbits.

Dasha Tyshlek, Director of Business Development, Micro-Ant responded: “We’re honoured to win this award and to receive recognition for developing this solution which we believe is a first for the industry. Developing this technology required rigour and tremendous teamwork between our engineers and with the manufacturing team as well.”

Kacific Broadband Satellites Ltd and GuarantCo Ltd have won the Cooperation of the Year award for setting a new global benchmark in delivering affordable and reliable satellite internet to underserved markets. It addressed the connectivity requirements for vulnerable communities in the Asia Pacific region by making WIFI connection accessible and affordable to healthcare clinics during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Spaceport Cornwall has been selected as the Educational Project of the Year for its innovative approach in engaging students of all ages to build a solid future in the space industry. The project saw the running of a two month exhibition, located at Spaceport Cornwall, which promoted the growth of the aerospace industry in Cornwall, as well as educational awareness of the space industry for students of all ages. 

Joakim Espeland, CEO, QuadSAT has won the award for Young Engineer of the Year for developing advanced drone-based technology, which provides users with a flexible and accurate antenna testing and calibration solution. 

Joakim Espeland commented: “I’m thrilled to have won this award. After first identifying the need for in-situ antenna testing then founding the company back in 2017, I’ve worked hard alongside my team to develop our technology to improve the industry’s accessibility to high-quality and cost-efficient antenna testing methods. I look forward to an exciting year ahead for QuadSAT”. 

Find a complete summary of the winners’ achievements here: