On February 7, 2025, the space & satellite industry lost a giant. Jim Oliver, Founder, Owner and CEO of AvL Technologies and a member of the Space & Satellite Hall of Fame, was known throughout the industry as a pioneer, mentor, innovative design engineer and wildly successful entrepreneur. The innovations he brought to the satellite ground segment have been instrumental in freeing the satellite antenna from its fixed base and moving it out into the field for users from broadcasting and disaster relief to government and military. The world has gained in knowledge, lives saved, health restored and greater safety and security as a result. You can read his obituary here.

In honor of his lifetime of contributions to our industry, SSPI is taking this week to rebroadcast an interview from the Risk podcast series, in which Jim shared his experiences taking risks as an entrepreneur and never giving up the passion required to succeed. Jim’s biggest success began with his retirement in the early 1990s after he sold his interest in SatCom. Growing bored with retired life, he was doing consulting work when an old customer asked him to design an SNG antenna that could operate on a standard size van. He saw a clever aircraft cable drive design in a magazine and pursued the patent rights, then designed the cable drive into an antenna positioner with significantly lower weight than comparable antennas. Read more about Jim in his Space & Satellite Hall of Fame profile.

The Risk podcast series was originally sponsored by

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