August 20, 2025

SmallSat 2025: At a Turning Point

SmallSat confirmed that antennas are the backbone of orbital infrastructure and building them at scale is a defining challenge of this decade.

SmallSat 2025 in Salt Lake City felt like a turning point for the space industry. Not just because the conference moved from Logan to Salt Lake City, though that mattered. The new venue gave the industry room to breathe. More floor space, easier logistics, and plenty of chances to bump into the people you needed to meet. The change of scenery too, seemed to echo the bigger story of the week: an industry that’s scaling up, professionalizing, and tackling problems that go way beyond prototypes.

From Exquisite to Scalable

One clear theme was the shift from exquisite, one-off systems to constellations built for scale. The kind of programs that used to celebrate technical elegance are now being judged on manufacturability, cost, and repeatability. Customers aren’t asking about the one spacecraft you can build. They want to know who can deliver dozens, maybe hundreds, and do it without betting everything on a fragile supply chain.

Multi-Orbit Architectures

The conversations stretched well beyond low Earth orbit. People were talking about LEO, MEO, GEO, Lunar, and even Martian orbits as pieces of the same puzzle. Multi-orbit architectures are shaping roadmaps for both commercial and government programs, creating real urgency for infrastructure that can flex and scale.

Commercial and Defense Convergence

At SmallSat 2025 the gap between commercial innovation and government adoption keeps shrinking. Agencies from NASA to the Department of Defense are looking to tap into commercial agility and push it to scale. You could hear it in the hallways. From Viasat’s new HaloNet portfolio to Blue Canyon’s Golden Dome bus, proliferated concepts are already reshaping national security space.

The Supply Chain Challenge

If there was a phrase of the week, it was “supply chain” The next chapter of space won’t be won with big visions alone. It will be built in factories. The companies that can prove they have real manufacturing capacity, vertical integration, and a plan to derisk production are the ones everyone wants to talk to.

Our Takeaway: What SmallSat 2025 in Salt Lake City Means

For us the week confirmed what we already believe. Antennas are the backbone of orbital infrastructure and building them at scale is a defining challenge of this decade. Every conversation we had, whether with commercial operators, government agencies, or defense partners, circled back to the same set of needs. Manufacturability. Delivery. Confidence that ideas on paper can reach orbit.

The industry has grown up. The problems are harder now. Scaling production, derisking supply chains, delivering systems on time and at cost is the work ahead. And if we are a little tired, in the best way, this week that made it clear just how much the future is here. Tendeg is proud to be in the middle of it.

Stacy Narine

Human Resources Manager

Stacy Narine is Tendeg’s Human Resources Manager, bringing experience across aerospace, technology, and higher education with a focus on aligning people strategy with business objectives. Her background includes talent strategy, employee relations, organizational development, compliance, and the development of scalable people processes within complex, highly regulated environments. At Tendeg, Stacy supports a growing technical workforce by strengthening HR operations, advising leadership, and helping build a culture rooted in communication, accountability, and shared purpose.

Scott Slack

Director of Marketing & Communications

Scott Slack is Tendeg’s Director of Marketing & Communications, leading brand strategy, external communications, product marketing, and strategic storytelling across the company’s deployable space systems portfolio. He brings more than 20 years of experience spanning aerospace, defense, satellite communications, documentary media, and mission-driven technology organizations. At Tendeg, Scott works across business development, engineering, programs, and executive leadership to translate complex technical capabilities into clear market positioning, customer-facing narratives, and communications that support growth across national security, commercial, and civil space markets.

Scott Liddle

Chief Engineer

Scott Liddle is a Chief Engineer at Tendeg and a lead structural analyst with more than 15 years of experience in the development, test, production, and mission verification of launch vehicle and spacecraft hardware. He brings deep expertise in structural analysis and complex flight-hardware development, with a reputation for finding multidisciplinary solutions to challenging system-level problems. At Tendeg, Scott provides technical leadership across advanced deployable space structures, helping ensure designs are analytically grounded, test-informed, and ready for mission execution.

Bruce Davis

Director of Advanced Products

Dr. Bruce Davis is Tendeg’s Director of Advanced Products, where he leads growth initiatives across business capture, product strategy, and new technology development. His background includes senior leadership in deployable space systems and advanced antenna products, including prior leadership of Redwire Space’s Longmont site and the development of Redwire’s antenna product portfolio group. At Tendeg, Bruce focuses on aligning emerging mission needs with scalable deployable solutions for national security, commercial, and civil space applications.

Eric Kelso

Director of Gimbaled Antennas

Eric Kelso is Tendeg’s Director of Gimbaled Antennas, leading work across precision pointing systems, antenna mechanisms, and deployable space hardware. He brings deep hands-on experience in the design, development, fabrication, and test of complex aerospace structures and mechanisms, with a focus on translating demanding mission requirements into reliable flight-ready systems. At Tendeg, Eric supports the development of integrated antenna solutions that combine mechanical precision, deployment reliability, and mission-driven performance for commercial, civil, and national security space applications.

Rory Barret

Director of Programs

Rory Barrett is Tendeg’s Director of Programs, bringing more than 32 years of aerospace experience, including 26 years supporting space flight hardware. He leads program execution across requirements management, resource planning, budget, schedule, and customer delivery. Rory’s background includes leading high-tempo spacecraft production efforts, including the delivery of 11 satellites in 3.5 years at Blue Canyon Technologies. At Tendeg, he helps translate technical complexity into disciplined program execution.

Mark Thompson

Chief Technology Officer

Mark Thomson serves as Tendeg’s Chief Technology Officer, bringing more than 40 years of aerospace experience to the company’s technical leadership team. His expertise spans deployable spacecraft structures and mechanisms, with a particular focus on large deployable optical, planar, and parabolic antenna systems. Mark helps guide Tendeg’s technology strategy and ensures the company’s solutions are grounded in proven engineering, flight heritage, and mission-driven innovation.

Neal Beidleman

Chief Engineer

Neal Beidleman is Tendeg’s Chief Engineer, with more than 30 years of experience in spacecraft mechanisms, satellite solar arrays, satellite vehicle design, and test. He has supported a wide range of complex flight-hardware programs, including spacecraft power systems, launch vehicle avionics, deployable boom solar arrays, ROSA, Mega-ROSA, and other advanced mechanism developments. At Tendeg, Neal provides senior engineering leadership across the design, development, and execution of deployable space systems.

Gregg Freebury

Founder and CEO

Gregg Freebury is Tendeg’s Founder, CEO, and Principal Engineer. With more than 30 years of experience in aerospace and aircraft vehicle design, analysis, hardware development, and test, Gregg brings deep technical expertise to Tendeg’s work in deployable space structures and flight hardware. His background spans advanced finite element analysis, vibration, shock, nonlinear analysis, and the development of complex aerospace systems from concept through test and delivery.