Dr. Mark Dickinson, the Vice President of Satellite Operations at Inmarsat, has been elected as the new Chairman of the Space Data Association (SDA), an international non-profit association of satellite operators that supports the controlled, reliable and efficient sharing of space environment and RF spectrum data.

The new Chairman of the Space Data Association — Dr. Mark Dickinson.

Dr. Dickinson succeeds the outgoing SDA Chairman, Mark Rawlins, Eutelsat, who will continue as a Director of the group. In his role at Inmarsat, Mark Dickinson is responsible for the operation of Inmarsat’s fleet of geostationary telecommunication satellites, as well part of the team defining the specifications and following the development of Inmarsat’s future satellites.The SDA has also announced that Jean-Luc Froeliger is joining as a Director to represent Intelsat, replacing Mark Daniels.

The SDA was established in 2009 by the international commercial satellite operator community to coordinate activity and safeguard space-based infrastructure in the space environment in which satellites are operating.  

“The SDA has always taken steps to best ensure the future of the entire satellite industry,” Mark Dickinson said, adding that he was happy to play a leading role in that future, especially at such an exciting time for the SDA. The upcoming launch of SDC 2.0 is an important step for the industry, helping the SDA to secure the future of space safety.

SDC 2.0 will be available to all members of the SDA, has a highly accurate, independently generated catalogue of space objects which will grow to include objects larger than 20cm, both in and traversing the geostationary arc, allowing for transparent and actionable collision warnings. The service also features functionality to combat Radio Frequency Interference (RFI), including the construction of geolocation scenarios and a Carrier ID database.