SES Space & Defense Launch Demo Payload Supporting NASA Communications Services Plan

SES Space & Defense has successfully launched a demonstration payload aboard Planet Labs PBC’s (Planet) Pelican-12™ satellite, in support of NASA’s Communications Services Project (CSP).

The launch took place today, October 20, 2026, at 7:04 a.m. ET aboard the Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission with SpaceX from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

NASA announced it will gradually sunset its Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) fleet and acquire commercial space relay services for future science missions in low Earth orbit (LEO). In 2022, NASA's Space Communications and Navigation division awarded $278.5 million to industry through the Communications Services Project to fund development and demonstration of space relay services.

SES Space & Defense has demonstrated LEO Relay Service (LRS) on both geosynchronous and O3b mPOWER medium Earth orbit data relay systems on orbit to provide low and high data rate services for mission backhaul and spacecraft state of health. The demonstration will continue to expand commercial service capability with the use of the Pelican satellite.

Planet’s Pelican is equipped with an internally developed Software Defined Radio (SDR) and paired with a folded optic flat slab tracking antenna for low latency, high throughput backhaul of mission data enabling a global capstone test to complete the SES Space & Defense CSP demonstration.

“Global testing of our relay network is the culmination of four years of product development for the LEO Relay Services (LRS) utilizing the operational on-orbit constellations,” said Sam Sutton, vice president of Space Data Relay Services at SES Space & Defense. “LRS enables low latency, persistent connectivity regardless of satellite location, enabling critical data backhaul, Telemetry, Tracking and Command (TT&C).”

Upon completion of the demonstration, SES Space & Defense will have completed another key step for NASA’s CSP effort, advancing the validation of commercial capabilities to move toward future operational support for near-Earth science missions.