The flexible and scalable satellite-based network will deliver multiple terabits of throughput to connect exponentially more people.

SES will partner for the first time with Boeing Satellite Systems and has contracted the construction of seven super-powered MEO satellites. According to Paperjam, the contract amounts to almost a €1 billion.

In its press release, SES said:

“SES already successfully operates the only non-geostationary broadband system through 12 MEO satellites which deliver high-throughput low latency connectivity, and will be launching another eight MEO satellites in 2018 and 2019. O3b mPOWER leverages the same building blocks with dramatically increased throughput, coverage and flexibility.”

It will be “the most bandwidth-efficient system ever. O3b mPOWER will provide unrivalled coverage to an area of nearly 400 million square kilometres, four fifths of the Earth’s surface.”

Karim Michael Sabbagh, president and CEO of SES, stated:

“With the launch of O3b mPOWER, SES is opening a new era of connectivity, fundamentally transforming the role and capabilities of satellite. O3b mPOWER is a unique system with exponentially more power, performance and flexibility which sets the technology at the highest level, offering a visionary roadmap for next generation technology. We are leveraging the pole position we hold today by relying and building on the strengths of our existing O3b Medium Earth Orbit constellation. We are taking a long-term strategic commitment to further boost our capabilities, going beyond boundaries and redefining the frontiers of what satellite connectivity can accomplish. 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.”