1. Tell us about your company
At ST Engineering iDirect, we are shaping the future of global communications through satellite innovation. We believe reliable connectivity is essential for economic opportunity, national security, humanitarian aid, and the daily flow of information that keeps our world moving.
Satellite technology is unique in its ability to extend connectivity where terrestrial networks can’t reach, keeping planes, ships, and remote operations reliably online. Our mission is to expand the possibilities of what satellite can do.
We empower satellite operators, service providers, and telcos to navigate industry change, unlock new business models, and deliver seamless, cost-effective connectivity to their customers. By pushing the boundaries of technology and empowering our partners, we ensure they are always ready to lead in a world of new possibilities.
2. What industry challenges are having the biggest influence on your work at the moment?
The satellite communications industry is undergoing a period of rapid transformation, driven by several key challenges. One of the most significant is the sharp rise in customer expectations for seamless, global connectivity. This demand is creating increasingly complex network environments, requiring the ground segment to innovate and evolve. To meet these expectations, the industry must embrace agility, scalability, and intelligent connectivity solutions that deliver reliable performance anywhere in the world.
The proliferation of software-defined satellites (SDS) is another major factor reshaping the industry. SDS are revolutionizing satellite operations by enabling operators to dynamically allocate capacity in real time, precisely where it’s needed. This shift is driving a fundamental transformation in the ground segment, moving away from traditional hardware-based systems to software-driven, virtualized architectures. Ground systems and teleports must now adapt to this new reality, embracing digitization and cloud-native solutions to deliver the flexibility and responsiveness required to support SDS. As SDS adoption accelerates, upgrading existing infrastructure to be SDS-ready is no longer optional—it’s essential.
The rise of Non-Geostationary Satellite Orbit (NGSO) constellations is also driving the need for multi-orbit solutions. Each orbit—Geostationary (GEO), Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), and Low Earth Orbit (LEO)—offers unique strengths. GEO provides wide coverage and reliability, MEO delivers a balance of capacity and latency, and LEO offers low-latency, high-speed connectivity. To fully capitalize on these strengths, operators must adopt multi-orbit architectures that seamlessly integrate these systems. This approach ensures consistent, high-quality service delivery across diverse use cases, from enterprise applications to remote connectivity, while optimizing performance and cost efficiency.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are also playing a pivotal role in the industry’s evolution. These technologies are unlocking new possibilities for smarter, more adaptive networks, enabling operators to optimize performance, predict demand, and enhance service delivery. While still in the early stages of adoption, AI and ML are sparking innovation across the satcom ecosystem. Experimentation and proof-of-concept initiatives will be critical to fully understand and harness their potential, but it’s clear that these tools will drive transformative change in the years ahead.
The integration of 5G Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) is another transformative challenge. This development is reshaping both the satellite and telecommunications industries, as operators on both sides seek to bridge the gap between terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks. Satellite operators are looking for streamlined ways to integrate with terrestrial networks to expand their service offerings and reach new markets. Meanwhile, telco providers are increasingly incorporating satellite connectivity to enhance regional coverage and address underserved areas. The ultimate goal is seamless roaming between terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks, unlocking unprecedented opportunities for connectivity and innovation.
3. What innovative solutions are you working on to address the issue?
Last year, we introduced Intuition, our next-generation ground system. Built on a cloud-native, multi-orbit architecture, Intuition is designed to address the evolving needs of satellite networks by unifying our industry-leading capabilities. It leverages automation, open standards, and the latest technologies to deliver flexibility, scalability, and seamless integration across diverse environments, empowering operators to meet rising connectivity demands with unmatched efficiency.
Intuition is designed to integrate with Software-Defined Satellites (SDS) and multi-orbit architectures, allowing operators to adapt to real-time changes such as beam configurations, capacity allocation, and frequency adjustments. By supporting multi-orbit orchestration, Intuition empowers operators to deliver consistent, high-quality services across diverse use cases while optimizing resource utilization.
A key milestone in our innovation journey has been achieving interoperability between our ground system and the 5G Core through our groundbreaking Interworking Gateway Function. This capability demonstrated a non-3GPP satellite network connecting seamlessly with the 5G ecosystem while appearing fully 3GPP-compliant. This proof of concept validates our hybrid strategy for 5G NTN, showcasing how satellite and terrestrial networks can be seamlessly integrated to deliver scalable, efficient global connectivity for operators.
To address the complexities of satellite networks, we established the Automation Advisory Council, a collaborative think tank where we work with partners, customers, and industry experts to identify challenges and co-create solutions. The council also serves as a platform for exploring the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). Through a series of proof-of-concept initiatives, we are integrating AI/ML into our Intuition ground system to enable predictive analytics, intelligent traffic routing, and enhanced security protocols. These efforts are paving the way for smarter, more adaptive networks that can optimize performance, predict maintenance needs, and deliver unparalleled service reliability. This collaborative approach ensures our advancements align with industry needs while driving the boundaries of what’s possible.
We are also a founding and leading member of the Digital Intermediate Frequency Interoperability (DIFI) Consortium. With a long-standing heritage in standards development, we continue to play a pivotal role in evolving the DIFI standard alongside our fellow members. This commitment to open standards and interoperability reflects our belief that collaboration is essential to solving the challenges faced by the satcom industry.
At the core of our efforts is a commitment to innovation, collaboration, and delivering solutions that empower operators to navigate the complexities of modern satellite networks while unlocking new opportunities for global connectivity.
4. Do you have any interesting plans for the next couple of months?
From an innovation standpoint, 5G is the next major milestone. Our goal is to ensure operators can fully leverage their existing infrastructure as they transition. That’s why we’re focusing on non-3GPP access and legacy satellite networks as the starting point. From there, the progression is toward integrating 5G NTN capabilities.
A significant part of this evolution is hybrid roaming, which allows seamless movement across multiple networks — not just within homogeneous networks. You won’t be confined to one platform or one vendor; instead, you’ll have the ability to roam freely across diverse networks. In parallel we will be introducing AI-driven applications. These will be groundbreaking for areas like global bandwidth management. Leveraging AI and ML, we’re developing intelligent controller functionalities that optimize network performance, enabling operators to adapt and make real-time decisions with unprecedented precision.
5. Why do you feel it is important to be a member of SIG?
We strongly believe in collaboration. Without sharing of information and experiences on a technical level, we can’t progress effectively and learn from each other. We see forums such as SIG as a critical means of overcoming the technical challenges we face as an industry, helping each other to succeed will enable our industry to move forward into a completely new era full of new opportunity and exciting innovation.