[Excerpt] Satellite builders booked more commercial orders in 2019 than the prior two years combined, but the industry remains in flux
Manufacturers are hopeful that 2019 marked the beginning of a turnaround for geostationary satellite orders, even though their market remains fraught with uncertainty. After booking just 14 orders in 2017 and 2018 combined, satellite manufacturers reported 2019 orders for 15 commercially competed geostationary communications spacecraft and two military comsats awarded without open bidding. While total commercial GEO satellite orders in 2019 more than doubled what satellite operators ordered in each of the prior two years, the range of spacecraft ordered grew as well.
