Satellite company Viasat appoints new head of gov systems
Satellite company Viasat has promoted Craig Miller to be its head of government systems after serving as the business unit’s chief technology officer for four years.
Miller will now oversee all federal sales and operations, a part of the Viasat that exceeds $1 billion in annual revenue. He replaces Ken Peterman, who will serve as an advisor to the Carlsbad, California-based company’s CEO.
Viasat provides a range of tech and services to the government, with public record showing contracts with all military departments and combat support agencies like the Defense Information Systems Agency. It is listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange, and reported annual revenues of $2.3bn for the fiscal year 2020.
Last May, Viasat won a nearly $1 billion contract with the Navy to work on the department’s Multifunctional Information Distribution System (MIDS). The work included creating new network and data links for the Navy’s tactical radio system.
Miller was involved in building the military’s Link 16 network, a global tactical network used by NATO countries in combat, He also has experience in cybersecurity and network security services.
The U.S. government has increasingly relied on commercial space and satellite companies to build global networks such as Link 16. The military is now working to update that network with new “network of network” systems that will be more interoperable and allow more data to flow, technologies that will rely heavily on satellites.
