The SES-22 satellite took off from the Cape Canaveral space force station in Florida at 5:04pm local time on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The project is part of a programme by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to enable 5G deployment and requires operators such as SES to transition their existing services from the lower 300 MHz to the upper 200 MHz to make room for the new broadband. SES-22 is expected to begin operations by early August 2022.

“The launch of SES-22, together with other upcoming C-band satellite launches scheduled this year, will enable us to continue providing the high-quality services that our customers have been accustomed to over the last several decades, while freeing up spectrum that will enable the US to rapidly unlock the promise of 5G,” said , CEO of SES.

The first of SES’s C-band satellites were built by Thales Alenia Space and will also deliver TV and radio to services to the US. The two companies have a history of collaboration. In 2017 Luxembourg’s satellite operator launched SES-17, built by Thales Alenia. On 28 March 2022 SES announced that it had ordered a new satellite from the French-Italian space manufacturer to replace its NSS-12 satellite.

SES-22 was manufactured and delivered within 22 months after it was ordered and is the seventh SES satellite launched by SpaceX over the last 10 years.