Special Report: There’s a new face ready to launch at Sky and Space Global.

The innovative nano-satellite company (ASX:SAS) announced today it was welcoming Michael Malone as its new non-executive chairman.

The move is effective from November.

Mr Malone is a telco icon. He founded iiNet (ASX:IIN), Western Australia’s first internet service provider, in 1993 and grew the company to service over one million households, returning revenues and a market capitalisation in excess of $1 billion respectively.

The company was acquired by TPG in 2015 for $1.56 billion.

Since then, the entrepreneur has garnered a wide breadth of experience, having founded Diamond Cyber, a company established to provide military-grade information security to the private sector, auDA, the industry body for all .au domain names and autism charity Autism West.

Mr Malone has also held multiple Director and Chairman positions for both listed and unlisted companies and he currently holds Board roles at NBN Co, Seven West Media (ASX:SWM), which has a market cap of $1.2 billion, Superloop (ASX: SLC) and leading satellite service provider SpeedCast (ASX:SDA).

Along the way, he’s picked up a number of industry accolades including 2012 Australian Entrepreneur of the Year, the First Among Equals in the 40 under 40 and CEO of the Year in the Australian Telecom’s Industry Awards.

Sky and Space Global is welcoming Michael Malone as its new chairman

Ready for takeoff

It’s a significant win for Sky and Space Global as it looks to create a reliable and affordable communications network in space via a constellation of nano-satellites and provide global coverage for voice, data and instant messaging services, particularly for remote regions along the equatorial belt.

The company expects Malone’s experience and industry knowledge will be invaluable to its leadership team.

“Michael Malone’s appointment marks an inflection point for SAS’ growth as he brings extensive experience within the telecoms and financial industries,” said Sky and Space CEO Meir Moalem.

“His track record for growing companies is renowned and his appointment significantly strengthens our Board. Welcome to the team and we look forward to getting stuck in.”

Sky and Space says it remains on track for a 2019 launch of its next-generation Pearls satellites.

It plans to put a total of 200 Pearls nano-satellites in orbit next year in order to begin offering reliable and affordable connectivity services to people and businesses in remote geographies.

The appointment of Michael Malone signals the completion of Brett Mitchell’s tenure as Non-Executive Director at SAS, who will remain the Board’s corporate advisor.

 

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