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SES and Thales Unveil Next-Generation Capabilities Onboard SES-17

SES and Thales Alenia Space (TAS) announced the addition of a powerful Digital Transparent Processor (DTP) onboard the SES-17 satellite which will allow SES to offer its mobility customers extraordinary efficiency and unrivalled flexibility in bandwidth management capabilities.

SES-17’s next-generation fully digital payload has been jointly optimised by SES and Thales Alenia Space over the past year, making the satellite even more attractive to customers in the highly competitive mobility market, as well as other fast growing enterprise markets. SES-17, which was procured in September 2016, will cover North America, South America, Central America, the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean, and is expected to be delivered in 2020.

Equipped with close to 200 spot beams of mixed sizes, the fully digital SES-17 spacecraft will provide mobility customers with an unsurpassed ability to efficiently and flexibly modify their networks in real time in response to changing bandwidth demands, either on a daily schedule or in response to unanticipated changes such as weather. This harmonisation of management of services and optimisation of service quality will enable customers to deliver high-speed broadband in a more efficient and cost effective manner.

Other added capabilities made possible by the addition of the SpaceFlexTM DTP are:

  • Improved ability for SES and its customers to implement mesh, broadcast, and multicast network configurations;
  • Improved efficiency in throughput and bandwidth use resulting in greater price competitiveness; and
  • New redundancy features that will deliver reliable and robust networks that are essential in today’s highly competitive markets.

Through the DTP-enhanced satellite, SES-17’s anchor customer, Thales InFlyt Experience, will enjoy enhanced flexibility and efficiency to deliver industry-leading speed and capacity to support passengers’ growing connectivity demands.

“Consumption of data has evolved dramatically over the years and will continue to do so. Our first geostationary Ka-band satellite with this next generation DTP is a keystone in SES’s unique satellite architecture. It is designed to provide unrivalled flexibility in terms of capacity allocation so that our customers’ connectivity needs of tomorrow are fulfilled,” said Martin Halliwell, Chief Technology Officer at SES. “Through Thales Alenia Space’s expertise, we are excited to be providing a satellite that will deliver seamless connectivity of unmatched performance for our customers.”

“Thales Alenia Space is proud of SES’s decision to embark its latest SpaceFlexTM VHTS DTP onboard SES-17 which will bring highly valuable benefits to this powerful, fully flexible mission,” said Bertrand Maureau, EVP Telecom at Thales Alenia Space. “Thales Alenia Space is pursuing the development of efficient and innovative space solutions to serve the market needs of high-speed broadband services.”

“Thales FlytLIVE connectivity solution offers the most advanced and efficient aeronautical solution available in the Americas,” Dominique Giannoni, CEO at Thales InFlyt Experience. “Adding the latest generation processor onboard SES-17 dramatically increases FlytLIVE’s coverage, capacity, and redundancy, enabling Thales to provide the connected inflight experience that our customers and their passengers expect, today and well into the future. With FlytLIVE, passengers will enjoy full internet connectivity, including the ability to stream internet services for video, games, social media and live television, creating an immersive and engaging experience in the air.”