SES, Luxembourg Government Plan To Launch Satellite in Late 2017

SES plans to launch a dedicated satellite for governmental use in partnership with the Luxembourg Government in late 2017. A Luxembourg-based company jointlyheld by SES and the Luxembourg Government is planned to own and operate the new spacecraft.

The Luxembourg Government and SES would each invest EUR 50 million into the new company, which, at the same time, would receive a EUR 125 million bank loan from a consortium of Luxembourg banks to finance the satellite’s procurement and launch. This investment has been foreseen within SES’s existing capital expenditure projections.  The spacecraft would be positioned in the European arc, covering Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific. The capacity of the new satellite would satisfy Luxembourg’s requirements for satellite communications in military frequencies. Capacity would also be made available to governmental and institutional customers for defence and governmental applications. The multi-mission satellite will use dedicated military frequencies (known as X-band and military Ka-band), providing high-powered and fully steerable spot beams to support multiple operations.

“This new, ambitious public-private partnership demonstrates the importance of Luxembourg in the international space sector and the close and successful ties between SES and Luxembourg. SES fully acknowledges the importance of the Luxembourg Government’s participation in this future enterprise,” said Karim Michel Sabbagh, President and CEO of SES. “As a commercial satellite operator, SES is ideally positioned to deliver its know-how to this new venture, serving a large range of future governmental and institutional customers, creating significant entrepreneurial value and return for these customers and for the Grand-Duchy.”

“Emerging from the national space sector, this project is not only an important contribution of Luxembourg to European defence, but it further supports the government’s economic diversification policy in a key technology sector”, said Etienne Schneider, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and Minister of  Economy.

ITC Global, SES Sign Strategic Agreement
Global satellite operator SES and ITC Global, a leading provider of satellite communications to remote and harsh environments, today announced a strategic agreement to connect oil and gas operations around the world. As part of the alliance, the companies also announced an agreement to deploy a powerful satellite-delivered enterprise network to support a global oil producer’s connectivity requirements across the Western Hemisphere.

The major oil producer is utilizing ITC Global integration expertise and SES network knowledge and capacity aboard three SES satellites to remotely manage and monitor virtually every phase of its operational ecosystem – from exploration vessels and drilling well sites to pipelines and production. The producer’s new, dedicated and reliable satellite communications system delivers a broad range of services, from high-speed Internet access to live HD video coverage of ocean floor drilling activities, throughout its operations in Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay, southward to the Gulf of Mexico, and further south to Trinidad and Tobago.

“ITC Global and SES have deployed a ground-breaking and trend-setting satellite communications network, fully capable of providing the scalability and flexibility necessary to deliver mission-critical oilfield data across multiple continents,” explained Joe Spytek, ITC Global CEO. “This major oil producer can now remotely and securely manage its operation – tracking everything from the direction of the drill bit piercing the ocean floor to the volume of oil flowing from offshore wells through a vast system of pipelines,” Spytek noted. “Oil and gas operations are interconnected around the world, and we will leverage the global SES constellation to meet the escalating connectivity demand around the world.”

“As oil and gas leaders look to further boost their operational efficiencies, this alliance between ITC Global and SES is fully focused on enabling the energy market to elevate its communications capabilities virtually anywhere on earth,” explained Elias Zaccack, Senior Vice President of the Americas region for SES. “Together, we’re delivering game-changing solutions that allow oil and gas companies to greatly enhance the reliability, security and remote manageability of their vast operations throughout North America and the world. This opens the door to a new era of exciting opportunities for growth and innovation in oil and gas.”

The strategic relationship between ITC Global and SES is geared to delivering a wide range of connectivity solutions to enable oil and gas companies and drilling rig operators to meet growing requirements for crew welfare and centralized operations. Supported with robust connectivity virtually anywhere, ITC Global’s oil and gas customers can now be provided with high-speed broadband, private corporate networks and next generation voice, video and data services.