O3b mPOWER, SES’s second-generation medium earth orbit (MEO) system, has been awarded the Platinum badge by the Space Sustainability Rating (SSR) Association. This is the highest possible SSR rating tier, and has been awarded to the O3b mPOWER constellation of 13 high-throughput and low-latency satellites, eight of which are already in orbit. The O3b mPOWER […]

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has cleared the take-over of Intelsat by SES in its $3.1 billion move. However, while the UK’s anti-trust clearance is a major step forward for the deal, there are two other entities which also need to give their permissions in the form of the EU and US. The […]

Tom Mueller, founder and CEO of Impulse Space has won a major ‘multi-launch’ order from satellite operator SES.  Mueller was the first employee at SpaceX and his work on the Merlin rocket engine, still used by SpaceX, was hugely important to SpaceX. He founded Impulse in 2020 having retired from SpaceX. The SES order will […]

A report on the satellite industry from investment bank BNP-Paribas highlights that a new auction of satellite C-band spectrum (in particular for US 5G use) “is back and too big to ignore”. The report continues: “As is the €800 billion ReArm Europe plan, with its focus on satellite communications. Geopolitical tailwinds are supportive. But amid […]

European Union (EU) regulators are examining the extent of Elon Musk’s influence and communications of his Starlink broadband-by-satellite system and whether it is a valid competitor to what could be a combined business of SES and Intelsat. SES is attempting to acquire Intelsat in a €3.1 billion deal. The EU’s anti-trust regulators have to decide […]

The European Union has set June 10th as the deadline date for Europe’s individual countries to approve – or to open a full investigation into the planned merger between satellite operators SES and Intelsat. Both companies have always said approvals were likely in the second-half of this calendar year. If a full competition investigation is […]

Satellite operator SES reported its numbers on April 30th but it has now emerged that the company’s O3b mPOWER Mid-Earth orbiting fleet is expected to grow capacity by 30 per cent this year alone, and more in 2026. The additions to the fleet will bring critical capacity for customers in government, maritime and aero, CEO […]

SES has published its Q1 2025 results, reporting that it signed €360 million in new business during the quarter. The two highlights were the satellite operator’s Networks division which saw revenue grow 8.4 per cent YoY and its Government segment improve 13.1 per cent. The once important Media division, which looks after its DTH transmissions, […]

The UK’s Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) has launched a Phase 1 investigation into SES in relation to its proposed acquisition of Intelsat. The CMA believes that the proposed acquisition of Intelsat Holdings by Luxembourg-based SES could potentially lead to a substantial lessening of competition in one or more UK markets. The CMA is examining […]

SES CEO Adel Al-Saleh, in an interview, has said that despite the recent examples of acquisitions it must move even faster. SES is awaiting regulatory approvals for its purchase of rival Intelsat, and has recently made an investment in Lynk Global which is building a low Earth orbiting fleet of satellites for Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) connections. […]