Several companies will collectively be launching about 20,000 satellites over the next few years. SpaceX, OneWeb, Telesat, O3b Networks and Theia Holdings — all told the FCC they have plans to field constellations of V-band satellites in non-geosynchronous orbits to provide communications services in the United States and elsewhere. So far the V-band spectrum of interest, which sits directly above Ka-band from about 37 GHz to the low 50 GHz range, has not been heavily employed for commercial communications services.

* SpaceX, for example, proposes a "VLEO," or V-band low-Earth orbit (LEO) constellation of 7,518 satellites to follow the operator's initially proposed 4,425 satellites that would function in Ka- and Ku-band.
* Boeing has a proposed global network of about 3000 satellites

In orbit satellite servicing is being developed. DARPA and commercial ventures are looking at in orbit satellite repair and servicing.

Orbital ATK Mission Extension Vehicle 1 (MEV-1) is scheduled for launch in late 2018 and in-orbit testing with an Intelsat-built satellite by early 2019.

The Restore-L satellite is being developed by a company called Space Systems Loral in Palo Alto, California. The satellite will have autonomous navigation, dexterous robotic arms, a toolkit, and propellant to fuel up spacecraft that are out of gas.

By the company's estimates, Restore-L could launch as soon as 2020. Its first mission may be to refuel Landsat-7, which provides satellite imagery for the U.S. Geological Survey.

Rob Hoyt indicates that the challenges of effectively spreading off-world and colonizing the cosmos are overcome by making it easier to manufacture and assemble large systems and structures in space. This visionary physicist, engineer, and CEO is leading a team of scientists to overcome those challenges.

Rob co-founded Tethers Unlimited Inc. in 1994, and built it into a space and defense research and development firm. He is now building a spin-off, Firmamentum, to commercialize in-space manufacturing. Rob has won more grants from NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts program than any other researcher.