[Satellite News 01-12-09] SES Astra believes its second hosted payload deal with the European Commission (EC) is a major step in the company’s attempt to become more of a force in the government services market, SES Astra Vice President and General Manager Philippe Glaesener told Satellite News.
    According to Glaesener, the deal to provide hosted L-band payload services for the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) via the Astra 5b satellite gives SES additional government sector credibility and will lead to additional business. “Since we have done the first EGNOS deal, the number of requests for hosted payload deals has multiplied. We have had requests from domains that we could not have even dreamed about. We are now working on several deals possibly leading to future hosted payload contracts. For some of those opportunities, it has gone past the evaluation phase. So, we are waiting for either an RFP or direct negotiations to start with these governmental customers, which consist of a mix of governmental bodies and pan-European agencies,” he said.
    EGNOS is Europe’s first contribution to satellite navigation and a precursor of Galileo, the global satellite navigation system that the European Union (EU) is developing. The program is managed by the EC on behalf of the EU. In March, SES Astra was also selected by the EC to supply the EU with a tailor-made payload as well as the related necessary ground infrastructure. The first contracted payload will operate in L-band and be located on SES Astra’s new Sirius 5 satellite.
    With both EGNOS deals signed, SES finds itself realizing its strategic plan to enter into the government sector. However, Glaesener said the work for SES is far from over. “I would say that in the medium- and long-term, we would like to drive at least between 5 to 10 percent of SES Astra’s revenue. This is the target we are imposing on ourselves. If we want to make it one of the cornerstones of SES’ strategy, we need to have aggressive targets,” he said.
    Glaesener said that future government contract would use World Skies capacity in addition to Astra capacity, as they could potentially take place outside of Europe. “Some of the deals we could sign in these markets will primarily be using SES World Skies capacity.”