SES Orders Two State-of-the-Art Satellites for its Prime TV Neighbourhood Serving 118 Million Homes

Two satellites at 19.2 degrees East will enable SES’s major European broadcasters’ content distribution operations as well as deliver connectivity services over Europe.

SES announced today it has ordered two geostationary (GEO) Ku-band satellites for its prime orbital slot at 19.2 degrees East to maintain the premium services it provides to its European video customers and to capture new opportunities in the region. These two replacement satellites – ASTRA 1P and ASTRA 1Q – will be built by Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%) and are expected to launch in 2024.

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SES Orders Two State-of-the-Art Satellites for its Prime TV Neighbourhood Serving 118 Million Homes (Photo: Business Wire)

ASTRA 1P, a classic wide-beam satellite, will support SES’s prime TV neighbourhood and enable content owners, private and public broadcasters across Germany, France and Spain to continue broadcasting satellite TV channels in the highest-picture quality in the most cost-efficient manner.

ASTRA 1Q, a next-generation digital satellite with both wide beams and high-throughput spot beams, will be able to support direct-to-home (DTH) operations like ASTRA 1P. In addition, the fully flexible ASTRA 1Q is customisable on orbit and can be deployed easily to other orbital positions, enabling SES to serve the dynamic needs of its video and data customers well into the future.

The current satellites operating at SES’s prime orbital neighbourhood of 19.2 degrees East serve an unparalleled 118 million households or over 43 percent of all European TV homes. Specifically the majority of satellite homes in Germany, France and Spain are being served by the ASTRA satellites. The number of TV homes receiving HD content from these satellites has increased almost 30 percent over the past five years.

“Our prime TV neighbourhood at 19.2 degrees East is one of our most valuable assets and has been key to enabling renowned European broadcasters to grow their TV audiences in the last 30 years. These two satellites will have the resiliency, reliability and redundancy that our video customers need, and will be able to deliver continued premium services well into 2040,” said Steve Collar, CEO of SES. “Additionally, thanks to advanced satellite technology, we will be future-proofing our investment and injecting a high degree of flexibility into ASTRA 1Q to ensure we are meeting the evolving needs of all the markets we serve.”

“This contract reflects the ability of Thales Alenia Space to match complementary customer’s needs for both capacity and flexibility. We are proud to offer to SES our full electric Spacebus NEO flight proven product line to answer Astra 1P mission as well as our innovative software defined solution Space Inspire, allowing Astra 1Q the full in-orbit flexibility requested to serve the dynamic of the evolving market,” said Hervé Derrey, CEO of Thales Alenia Space.

The procurement of the two satellites was already incorporated within SES's existing Capital Expenditure outlook for 2021-2025 and is fully compliant with the company’s financial policy.

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About SES

SES has a bold vision to deliver amazing experiences everywhere on earth by distributing the highest quality video content and providing seamless connectivity around the world. As the leader in global content connectivity solutions, SES operates the world’s only multi-orbit constellation of satellites with the unique combination of global coverage and high performance, including the commercially-proven, low-latency Medium Earth Orbit O3b system. By leveraging a vast and intelligent, cloud-enabled network, SES is able to deliver high-quality connectivity solutions anywhere on land, at sea or in the air, and is a trusted partner to the world’s leading telecommunications companies, mobile network operators, governments, connectivity and cloud service providers, broadcasters, video platform operators and content owners. SES’s video network carries over 8,500 channels and has an unparalleled reach of 361 million households, delivering managed media services for both linear and non-linear content. The company is listed on Paris and Luxembourg stock exchanges (Ticker: SESG). Further information is available at: www.ses.com.

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