Two of EchoStar’s senior executives have resigned from the board of Terrestar. EchoStar Satellite Services president and satellite industry veteran Dean Olmstead and chief administrative officer and former CFO David Rayner left Terrestar on December 31,…
Two of EchoStar’s senior executives have resigned from the board of Terrestar. EchoStar Satellite Services president and satellite industry veteran Dean Olmstead and chief administrative officer and former CFO David Rayner left Terrestar on December 31, 2009.
According to Terrestar, neither Olmstead nor Rayner informed the company “that their resignation is due to any disagreement with the company on any matter related to the company’s operations, policies or practices.” The vacancies have yet to be filled.
Having raised US$300m in fundraising from EchoStar and hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners in February 2008, the boards of directors of Terrestar Corporation and Terrestar Networks were expanded to eight members with EchoStar and Harbinger each having the right to nominate two members to each board. While Harbinger elected two executives with financial industry backgrounds, EchoStar nominated Olmstead and Rayner.
Moore takes back the reigns at WildBlue
ViaSat has appointed Tom Moore president of newly acquired satellite subsidiary WildBlue. Moore replaces David Leonard, who was CEO of WildBlue for the past four years.
Moore himself is the co-founder of WildBlue and served as president and CEO from 1998 to 2005, and as a director until 2008.
His role at WildBlue will be integrated with his current responsibilities at ViaSat, where he is overseeing the construction and launch of the ViaSat-1 Ka-band broadband satellite.
The business aspect of said satellite will be integrated with WildBlue’s current satellite broadband sales network.
In addition to his work with WildBlue and ViaSat, Moore has served as a principal at the Denver-based telecommunications venture firm TimesArrow and sat on the board of the Telecommunications Program at the University of Colorado.
He was also previously in senior management at Cable Television Laboratories (CableLabs), a non-profit technology development consortium of the cable industry where he was instrumental in the creation of the world-wide DOCSIS cable modem standard.
ViaSat president and COO Rick Baldridge said: “We think Tom’s vision for the next phase of growth at WildBlue, including the integration of ViaSat-1, is really going to create exciting prospects for this business. With his extensive knowledge of the consumer satellite broadband business and many established relationships with others at WildBlue, we see this as a very smooth transition for both WildBlue and Tom.”
“We also would like to thank Dave Leonard for all that he has contributed to building WildBlue into the successful business it is today.”
Integral elects new board member
The satellite technology solutions provider Integral Systems has elected Bonnie Wachtel to its Board of Directors.
Wachtel is a principal of the boutique investment firm Wachtel & Co, which focuses on growing companies in the Washington DC area.
She previously served on Integral’s Board from 1988 to 2006. Her nomination brings the number of directors at the company to eight.
New CFO at Skyware Global
The satellite antennae solutions provider Skyware Global has named Michael Morgus as its new chief financial officer.
The company, which recently changed its name from the Raven Group and Satellite Holdings, has brought Morgus on board as part of its drive to focus on the growing international Ka-band market.
Morgus was formerly an executive director at the New York-based global equity investment firm Patriarch Partners.
Yates becomes IET Satellite chairman
Satellite industry expert John Yates has been appointed Chairman of the British Institution of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) Satellite Systems and Applications Network.
Yates has worked in the space sector for 23 years and has held key management positions at SES Astra and Inmarsat.
For the past 12 years he has provided consultancy services on a number of satellite projects for a wide range of clients, including EADS Astrium, Dar Al-Handasah, Herbert Smith LLP, HSBC Investment Bank, SES Astra, Inmarsat and Eutelsat.
The IET’s Satellite Systems & Applications Network focuses on satellites, space vehicles and earth stations, and facilitates the exchange of knowledge across these sectors.
