SES launches O3b mPower networks system

Satellite operator SES has launched O3b mPower, a system that is designed to deliver efficient high-performance network communications to users around the world.

SES said that O3b mPower is capable of delivering “multiple terabits of throughput globally” and is scheduled for launch starting in 2021.

The scalable system will use space and ground technologies, and lets SES Networks offer fully managed services in the mobility, fixed data and government markets.

Boeing Satellite Systems will be the first O3b mPower technology in a fleet of seven ‘super-powered’ medium earth orbit (MEO) satellites, which SES claims will provide coverage to four fifths of the Earth’s surface.

“With the launch of O3b mPower, SES is opening a new era of connectivity, fundamentally transforming the role and capabilities of satellite,” said Karim Michael Sabbagh, president and CEO of SES.

“O3b mPower will be instrumental in empowering customers to massively scale up their businesses and capture new growth. This will enable us to further execute on our differentiated service offering and deliver profitable growth in line with SES’s financial framework.”

SES already operates a non-geostationary broadband system through 12 MEO satellites, which deliver high-throughput low latency connectivity. It plans to launch another eight MEO satellites in 2018 and 2019.