Akash Appoints Space Industry Veteran
Fabrizio Montauti will lead team delivering next generation GaN-on-Diamond satellite technology
Akash Systems, a San Francisco-based startup focused on enabling faster and cheaper satellite communications, has appointed industry veteran Fabrizio Montauti as VP of radios. Montauti brings 30 years of RF communications experience from his work delivering radio technologies to the global space satellite communications market.
Montauti’s appointment continues the expansion of the Akash Systems’ core management team, which has been carefully assembled by co-founders Felix Ejeckam and Ty Mitchell since 2016.
“It’s one thing to design effective RF technology. It’s another to deliver that technology to customers through trusted and proven partnerships,” said Ejeckam, Akash co-founder, CEO and GaN-on-diamond inventor. “Fabrizio has shown a mastery of both skills, and we’re excited to leverage his expertise in conceptualizing and delivering groundbreaking space-qualified radio communications systems to our customers.”
Montauti’s team of industry-leading engineers expects to deliver its first radio product, a small X/S transceiver, over the next few months to both CubeSat and satellite customers in the Earth observation market, with a Ka/S transceiver shortly thereafter. GaN-on-Diamond, the innovative material created by Ejeckam, powers the company’s radio products and allows for record-breaking data rates at highly reduced power consumption levels.
Through his experience in radio product design, customer support, business development, sales and team leadership, Montauti will further Akash’s mission of extending the reach of fast, affordable information across the globe.
Prior to joining Akash, he was head of Microwave Products at RUAG Space in Santa Clara, CA, where he led advanced research and development of microwave payloads equipment. Previously, Montauti held senior management positions at numerous startups and established companies, including L3 Communications, P-Com and Siemens Telecomunicazioni.
