Executive Insights: Interview with Phil Carrai, President, Kratos Space
Ahead of the upcoming World Space Business Week, Constellations and Novaspace bring you a limited podcast series where 5Β ...
President of Space, Training & Cyber Solutions Division, Kratos Defense Security
Search every verified Phillip Carrai interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote β each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. In a September 2025 podcast interview, Carrai highlighted Kratos Space's recent 5G non-terrestrial network (NTN) test conducted over geostationary orbit in partnership with Intelsat, which he described as a substantial development. He stated that 5G is the future of satellite communications, particularly for mobility and the Internet of Things, and that connecting seamlessly to terrestrial infrastructure is the future of satcom across all orbits. Carrai also discussed major shifts in the space industry, noting that the emergence of SpaceX had upended the assumption that launch would always be expensive and limited, and that the rise of mega-constellations like Starlink had caused a monumental change in the industry's economics and scale. He said the last four to five years in space have seen unprecedented disruption in business models, requiring constant adjustment of strategy and product development. In a 2016 interview, Carrai predicted that the biggest impact in the following three years would come from high-throughput satellite (HTS) technology, citing the amount of bandwidth and types of services it would enable. He also forecast that innovations in small satellites and non-geostationary orbit satellites would be significant in the three-to-five-year timeframe, affecting cost effectiveness and ground system design. Carrai expressed a desire for more standardization in satellite waveforms, similar to the mobile world, which he said would benefit the market as HTS and large-scale non-geo constellations developed.
“We announced that we've conducted a 5G NTN test over Geo with our partner Intelsat. We believe 5G is the future of satcom, especially for mobility, air mobility, ground mobility, and the Internet of Things, connecting seamlessly to terrestrial infrastructure.”
“What separates winners from losers in the space industry are three things: a well-defined business plan that provides real value matching customer spend patterns; real delivery of demonstrable product and capability; and solutions that fit into the customer's mission or business structure.”
“The assumption that launch was always going to be expensive and limited has been turned upside down by the emergence of SpaceX, dramatically changing access to space and enabling much of what we're seeing in the space and ground system layers.”
“The emergence of mega constellations, specifically LEO constellations like Starlink, has caused a monumental change in the industry, with other players like Kuiper and Chinese constellations planning thousands of satellites, shifting the economics and scale of commercial broadband access.”
Ahead of the upcoming World Space Business Week, Constellations and Novaspace bring you a limited podcast series where 5Β ...
Phil Carrai, President, Technology & Training Solutions Division, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions CommunicAsia 2016 - WTAΒ ...
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