Mr. Ashford spoke about how significant the ACTS program was as a trailblazer. He noted that:

"NASA was one of the first to develop the technology for Ka-band processing data. But, it was also slightly ahead of its time, in terms of the market. It's only recently with the explosion of the Internet and business communications that the need for Ka-band, broadband satellites have become apparent in the marketplace. Many of the prognosticators and foresighted people in this room saw the need for ACTS before the marketplace did. To them goes the credit for generating the market that's now using the ACTS technology."

"Not only can U.S. manufacturers and operators be thankful for what ACTS has done, but so can foreign operators and populations around the world."

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