Satellite veteran Mark Rigolle appointed CEO of ABS

Satellite operator Agility Beyond Space (ABS) has appointed Satellite industry veteran Mark Rigolle as the company’s new CEO in Dubai, UAE.

His requirement came after the sudden departure of previous ABS CEO Amit Somani early this year in the latest shake-up for the Dubai-based regional satellite operator.

ABS announced on April 16 that Rigolle will join ABS as CEO on April 29, reports spacenews.com.

Mark Rigolle is now chief operating officer for the proposed Rivada Space Networks low Earth orbit constellation (LEO).

Somani left ABS in January for personal reasons less than two years after his appointment.

The company said after moving its headquarters from Hong Kong, it recently changed its name from Asia Broadcast Satellite to Agility Beyond Space.

Somani had joined from UAE-based regional satellite operator Yahsat.

After recently coming under new ownership, ABS reflected a push toward building strategic, long-term relationships in the industry.

However, the ABS pronounced its rebranding in October 2023.

British private equity firm Permira bought a majority stake in ABS in 2010 and first tried to sell the company about six years later.

Permira lists the operator as sold on its website but does not provide details about the deal.

ABS announced its latest earnings results on January 10 during Somani’s departure.

ABS said as satellites reached the end of their design life, the company reported increasing revenue from sales to other operators.

Total sales came in flat at $69 million for the year to September 30, although the company did not detail these arrangements.

ABS chairman Parm Sandhu said the company is in active partnership talks regarding its spectrum rights.

The spectrum covers Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific “to reveal the concealed value in our holdings, added the chair.