2010 has been a tough year for the satellite industry, especially for the ground segment equipment providers — full of challenges and changes. Ka-band begins to play a broader role, instead of connectivity, we are now going into end-to-end solutions and all this combined with a high demand for flexibility, mobility and security. Nevertheless, with nearly three decades of experience, our company has met the challenge to better serve the needs of our market, our customers and partners. I would like to take the opportunity to look back on the year, especially at some of our major activities.

My role in 2010 included taking on additional responsibilities as President and CEO of ND SatCom in June. This position is exacting, but one I relish. I am delighted to be able to build on the company’s success and pave the way for further business achievements. “If our customers are successful, then we are successful as well” – this is my personal motto. It is so important not to lose sight of customers’ needs and requirements. A key element is the strategic development of ND SatCom and its products, combined with the management team, our 350 employees worldwide and our partners.

Satellite communication in the IT industry is the option of choice if no terrestrial link is available or reliable — neither cost or latency are much of an issue. The outstanding success of this year was the product launch of our innovative IT solution, making cloud computing via satellite possible and eliminating the latency issue while saving significant bandwidth and such also cost. In April, XWARP® was introduced to the international satellite and IT community during “SatCom Africa” in Johannesburg — and received an excellent response. Just six months later and ND SatCom has already become a certified Citrix Ready Partner, being now the only satellite modem provider who has achieved this certification.

For the first time, the XWARP® solution combined with Citrix virtualization technology enables cost-efficient cloud computing via satellite. This solution allows companies to provide virtual applications from their data centers to users anywhere and anytime, and our new, enhanced technology cuts latency in satellite-based IT networks to almost zero.

Perhaps the most interesting activity in 2010 for has been the launch of our new global “Valued Partner Program”, aimed at resellers of SkyWAN®. This program gives committed partners in the telecommunication, IT, enterprise, government and defense industry customized resources and incentives, with sales support, discounts, training and marketing campaigns — partners will become even more successful with leading edge SkyWAN® technology.

In 2006, ND SatCom was awarded with the largest satellite communication project in the history of the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr). The overall project called “SatCom BW2” comprises the delivery of two communication satellites, an overall communication management system, the upgrade of existing fixed stations and some mobile stations and several hundred transportable ground stations of various sizes. ND SatCom’s responsibility in this project is the complete ground segment, including the management system and the related services. ND SatCom managed to deliver two, pre-series units of 2.4m triband mobile terminals and two, 4.6m triband mobile terminals, all within a very tight timeframe, the last one in October. This award, combined with the final delivery of the last set of 400 1.2m FlyAway terminals, created trust in ND SatCom’s capabilities. The serial production of the 2.4m and 4.6m terminals will start in early 2011 and will last until late 2012. To further strengthen the Company’s portfolio in the governmental market, the Ranger FlyAway terminal family from 1.0m to 2.4m was completed, now available with and without automatic pointing and in C-, X-, Ku- and Ka-band.

A further highlight in 2010 was success in China. In the broadcast area, ND SatCom delivers SNG uplinks and SkyWAN® networks for CCTV7, the special interest station of China Central Television, covering military and agricultural topics. The scope of delivery included about 50 units of SkyRAY Antenna Systems, 400 W High Power Amplifiers, and corresponding SkyWAN® modems. In the area of homeland security ND SatCom signed an agreement with the Chinese Civil Air Defense to standardize on SkyWAN® and SkyRAY light technology for all provinces and to customize the Network Management System for the Chinese market.

While addressing features such as link encryption and BPSK for the governmental and communication-on-the-move market in 2010, the highlight in 2011 will be the expansion of the SkyWAN® product range. The new modem will comply with the familiar standard and as such will be based on our fully meshed architecture and will also include additional features while focussing on the price sensitive midrange enterprise market.

Looking at ND SatCom’s product portfolio, the delivery capabilities, complex projects, and worldwide reach, the Company is very optimistic that 2011 will be an excellent year for us, our partners, and customers. Finally, I wish to express my special thanks to all employees at ND SatCom, worldwide, for their hard work and superb team spirit.