SES Executes on Growth Strategy with New Satellite Investment Programmes

As announced on 16 February, SES has ordered three next-generation satellites, SES-14, SES-15 and SES-16/GovSat, the latter together with the Luxembourg Government in a new joint venture, LuxGovSat.

The satellites are using the newest spacecraft technologies, leading to optimal performance and highest efficiency and allowing SES to address the accelerating needs of fast growing markets where SES is already well positioned. The satellites will be manufactured by Airbus Space and Defence, Boeing and Orbital AKT, respectively. The new orders bring the total number of SES satellites currently under procurement to seven, out of which six are delivering incremental growth capacity.

"The new spacecraft will support our growth and add significant high-power capacity to all four key strategic business verticals - video, data, mobility and government," said Karim Michel Sabbagh, President and CEO of SES. "These fleet investments - all delivered within SES's forecast CapEx envelope - enable us to differentiate our service offering in our target markets and set the foundation for continued growth. They will allow us to capture the significant potential of numerous vibrant regions and market segments, including Direct-to-Home (DTH) in Latin America, and mobility in the aeronautical and maritime sector throughout the Americas and the North Atlantic, as well as powerful end-to-end solutions for governments, defence and security."

SES-14 and SES-15 are both powerful hybrid satellites, using Ku-, Ka- and – in the case of SES-14 – also C-band in wide-beam and high-throughput (HTS) technology and a purely electric propulsion system that significantly enhances the satellites’ economic efficiency thanks to the enhanced payload that can be carried as a result of the reduction in fuel mass.

SES-16/GovSat is a state-of-the-art multi-mission satellite with high-powered and fully steerable beams for government missions. It will be owned and operated by LuxGovSat, a new joint venture between SES and the Luxembourg Government.

"These fleet investments augment our capacity to address the high demand for connectivity in several key regions and segments,“ continued Karim Michel Sabbagh. "They allow us to launch a full range of attractive offers for video distribution and platforms, and data, mobility and government services, with a focus on SES’s large and world-leading customers in the aeronautical and maritime sectors. They underscore our confidence in the high demand and growth potential in both emerging and mature markets and provide the basis for the creation of a truly unique combination of our geostationary fleet (GEO) with the medium earth orbit (MEO) fleet of O3b, in which we hold a 45 percent stake.“