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Multi-orbitconstellationSES, a leader in global content connectivity solutions, operates the world’sonly multi-orbit constellation of satellites that uniquely combines globalcoverage and high performance. SES leverages its vast and intelligent,cloud-enabled network to deliver high-quality connectivity solutionsanywhere on land, at sea or in the air, as the company services a wideecosystem of customers, including organisations in the tele-communications industry, cloud service providers, broadcasters and videoplatform operators, as well as governments. Today, the company isdelivering connectivity to defence, security, humanitarian, civiliangovernment organisations worldwide. Nicole Robinson, Senior VicePresident of Global Government for SES, outlines the demand on thisarena and how she anticipates its evolution.

Nicole Robinson, Senior VicePresident of Global Government forSES

GMCQ&A

O3b mPOWER

Laurence Russell, News and Social Media Editor, Global Military Communications

GMC: We’re excited for the launch of your next-generation MEO satellitecommunications system O3b mPOWER, could you introduce us to it?Nicole Robinson: SES has been offering low-latency, high-throughputconnectivity to its customers using O3b medium Earth orbit (MEO) capabilitiessince 2014, when the initial O3b constellation became available. That constellationhas been in such high demand from government and other customers since itslaunch that we’ve had to consistently add more satellites. The upcoming O3bmPOWER is the next generation of the MEO satellite service.

O3b mPOWER was designed leveraging the insights we gleaned from ourinitial O3b users. We took what we knew of the high-throughput, low-latencyenvironment and magnified it into what will be the next-generation system that isinitially comprised of seven satellites.

These new satellites will be seamlessly integrated into our services and willdeliver an exponential increase in capability. Each of the satellites will offerthousands of beams that can be digitally steered and controlled to deliver tailoredservices. That optimisation could be contingent on the amount of data, the sizeof the beam, and unique needs of the user, enabling dedicated services from50Mbps up to 10Gbps more dynamically than any other communications system.O3b mPOWER also will include a variety of intelligent, application-specificCustomer Edge Terminals integrated with SES’s terrestrial network anddynamically optimised using the recently announced Adaptive Resource Control(ARC) software system, further boosting O3b mPOWER’s market-leadingflexibility.

Being a truly revolutionary, terabit-scale system, O3b mPOWER will deliver

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in a way no other satellite constellation can, so we’re reallyexcited about it. It’s set to launch in 2021 and we’re eager todeliver on our customers’ growing requirements.

GMC: Do you have any comment on your upcomingcollaboration with SpaceX to launch your new O3bmPOWER satellites?Nicole Robinson: We are thrilled to work with SpaceX again.SpaceX has been a longstanding partner of SES. We were thefirst commercial Falcon 9 customer back in 2013 and were alsothe first to make use of SpaceX’s reusable launcher in 2017.

As the leader in global content connectivity solutions, SESis committed to helping foster and support the emergingcommercial space launch industry. Back then, we believed itssuccess would benefit the entire sector and serve to delivernew advancements and innovations that make space moreaccessible and efficient for everyone, and it did!

GMC: What are the advantages of MEO against otherorbital domains?Nicole Robinson: We do not limit ourselves to MEO only,bringing to the customers the benefits of both geostationary

SES multi-orbit satellite systems

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(GEO) and MEO satellites. MEO operates at 8,000km versusgeostationary which is at 36,000km. If you think of that in termsof a flashlight, if you’re holding it out from a further distance,light can spread over a wider area, but when you’re holding itcloser, you get more concentrated light. A similar principle existsfor satellite performance across the various domains. You gethigher throughput and lower latency at closer orbits.

There are advantages to both, depending on a customer’srequirements and use case. For example, the MEO satellitesbeing located closer to the Earth’s surface enable them to deliverhigher throughputs at lower latencies, while GEO satellitesprovides comprehensive coverage over at least 1/3 of the worldwith one beam. Our multi-orbit fleet of GEO and MEO, as wellas the extensive ground infrastructure, gives us the ability todeliver the most optimal solution based on a user’s requirements.

Today, SES satellite-enabled services play an integral rolein a number of government applications and missions, enabling,for example, comms on the move (COTM), or deliveringintelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) data in realtime to those that need it. Over the last year, we’ve also beenshowcasing and demonstrating the advantages of using MEOfor connectivity with UAV platforms.

Thanks to the advantages of MEO, we’ve been able, forexample, to connect users to live, full-motion video whilesimultaneously operating three independent sensors. We’vefound that utilising the higher throughput, changes the ISRlandscape from the ground up. And we can confidently say thatMEO is a sweet spot for latency comparing to other non-Geostationary (NGSO) systems.

GMC: Innovative technologies you are implementing arecertainly effective for various markets you serve, such astelecommunications. Are they optimised for governmentneeds and applications?Nicole Robinson: From the birth of SES, we’ve worked todevelop capabilities that helped to establish and maintain areputation as a trusted, effective provider of SATCOM forgovernments and institutions. SES has made relevantinvestments in its satellite and ground infrastructures to ensurethey have the reliability required by government users.

Going forward, with the O3b mPOWER service, we’reworking very closely with our government customers toanticipate exactly what security and mission assurance featureswill be required at the Earth stations, including encryption,tracking, telemetry, and control.

GMC: What can you say about cloud adoption and othertrends?Nicole Robinson: The largest trends today are very muchfocused on digital transformation and implementing newtechnologies that will help governments do more in an efficientway. We’re seeing for example a number of exciting cloudinitiatives cropping up across governments, as well as aconstantly increasing interest in a wider cloud solutions adoption.Thanks to the satellite-enabled capabilities, cloud services arenow available to users when and where they need them – evenin places where terrestrial networks are unavailable, denied oruntrusted.

The bandwidth requirements from ISR platforms alsocontinue growing tremendously, especially as applications shifttowards HD full-motion video. It is expected that the data raterequirements for the UAV platforms will be more than doublingby 2026 comparing to currently observed values.

Another great example of how satellite-enabled networkscan make a difference can be seen in morale, welfare andrecreation (MWR) programs. Data requirements for people’swelfare is growing: While traffic requirement stood at 1-2 Mbpsper site in 2011, minimum requirements now range from 2-6Mbps per site and expected to continue growing. Todaygovernments that are looking to recruit and retain personnelhave found that connectivity in this context also matters

tremendously. Many young recruits have been raised onconnected devices and networked platforms. They’ve had accessto them for almost as long as they can remember, so when theyenlist and suddenly, they can no longer be accessed, they feellike they’ve had a part of them taken away. To meet this demandfor MWR services and make enlisted personnel feel more athome and at ease, governments are increasingly turning tocloud-based MWR services.

While this isn’t what someone might think of whenconsidering core defence services, especially when you starttalking about social media or gaming, research has found theyplay a role in why recruits leave the defence sector for example.It’s something that those without digital-native upbringings havelong dismissed as unnecessary or even counterproductive.Access to connectivity is now a right, and we are proud to enablethe delivery of connectivity and make sure we are keepinggovernment personnel around the world satisfied and beingconnected with their loved ones. GMC

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

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