SES recently signed a launch deal with SpaceX, once again underlying its faith in the U.S.-based services provider. The operator has been busy this year, with a number of satellites being launched and its continued efforts to target growth markets in the world’s developing regions. A recent contract SES signed with GoGo also highlights the importance of verticals such as in-flight connectivity. Here, Romain Bausch, president and CEO of SES talks about the recent deal with SpaceX, future growth initiatives and some of the challenges ahead for the operator. 

VIA SATELLITE: You have signed another launch deal with SpaceX. What were the reasons for this? Why do you have such confidence in SpaceX?

Bausch: The decision is simply a continuation of our policy to have guaranteed access to space and of long-term contracts in the launch arena. We have multi-launch agreements with ILS and Arianespace in place. So, we felt that it would be good to open a third leg that we could also use for long-term access to space. The first launch with the two enhancements we are looking for on Falcon-9, the more powerful engine and also the five meter faring, is scheduled to fly in the first quarter of next year. We are confident that our SES-8 satellite will be launched on this enhanced version of Falcon-9 on the second flight in the middle of 2013.

Because our teams continue to think very positively of the SpaceX production line and their technical capabilities, we discussed the possibility to pursue our co-operation beyond the first launch. That is why we signed this contract for three further launches. We also have the ability to push back the launches in case there were to be delays in the development. We are somewhat protected against launch delays as we still have multiple options available. We have the option to either go with these three launches on Falcon-9 or maybe later on the Falcon Heavy. It is a very flexible contract we have signed. But, we are not planning to leave Arianespace and Proton. We will obviously respect these agreements.

VIA SATELLITE: I was told that the first launch you did with SpaceX, I understood you got a 50 percent discount compared to alternatives. Have you got a similar price point this time around?

Bausch: We never speak about commercial terms and conditions. We have entered into these contracts at a price that is in line with the fact we are the first large satellite operator to commit to Falcon-9. A double-digit discount percentage is what you would expect when you commit to a launch vehicle in its early days.

VIA SATELLITE: A lot of talk at IBC was about ultra-HD. Do you think ultimately the take-up of ultra-HD will happen quicker than 3-D TV?

Bausch: You have always heard me say that I am not a believer 3-D TV. I underline TV here. I think 3-D can be a great technology for cinema or for pubs, for example. But, I do not believe in 3-D TV at the home. I have always said that the development of the quality of the TV picture will drive future developments. So, you had analog to standard digital, SD to HD, and now HD to ultra-HD in 3-4 years time. Our belief, based on discussions with customers, is that ultra-HD will be launched both in North America and Europe around 2015-2016. 

VIA SATELLITE: Interestingly, we have seen SES and Intelsat sign deals with GoGo lately and target the in-flight connectivity market. How important is this market now for SES?

Bausch: It is an opportunity but we should not get over-excited by it. We already have services to private jets. That is something we have been doing for customers in the United States for a long time. And we have just signed a deal with GoGo. There are airlines that are entering into contracts with us, as well as with our competitors. As a result we are adding maritime beams where it makes sense. Let’s take as one example, SES-6, a satellite which will be launched in the second quarter next year and which will cover the Americas, and also touches Europe and Africa. We have put a maritime antenna on that satellite to cover the Atlantic Ocean. And we can decide transponder by transponder, whether we activate a transponder over Latin America or whether we activate the transponder over the Atlantic Ocean. So, at a small incremental cost, we are adding capabilities into a satellite we would have invested in anyway in order to have very efficient coverage of maritime routes, be it for ships or airplanes over the different oceans. We will do the same over Asia, and this will allow us to cover the Pacific Ocean and/or the Indian Ocean as well.

VIA SATELLITE: With the talk of maritime and in-flight connectivity as being hot markets, are we seeing more convergence between the FSS and MSS worlds than ever before?

Bausch: We have always said that the two worlds are coming together. There is no reason to distinguish between frequency use for FSS (Ku/Ka/C-band) and MSS (L or S band). You see Inmarsat addressing this market as one of their core markets. You also see Intelsat and ourselves and some other FSS operators entering into this market. With Global Xpress Inmarsat is going into Ka-band, so using traditional FSS frequencies to offer these services. It is showing that there is no barrier any longer between FSS and MSS operators. As you know we are a minority shareholder in O3b Networks, and they are also looking at maritime opportunities. They have signed a contract with Royal Caribbean to have O3b offering huge bandwidth to the largest ship in Royal Caribbean’s fleet. You will see O3b doing more deals of this kind. So, they are going after MSS verticals too. It is very interesting. This Royal Caribbean ship has around 8,000 passengers and 3,000 crew i.e. around 10,000 people on the boat. O3b can offer one beam, which follows the ship, with 1.2 Gbps per second available to 10,000 people. That is offering good broadband connections to the passengers and the crew.

VIA SATELLITE: Can you give us an update on the situation regarding Solaris Mobile?

Bausch: The situation with Solaris Mobile is that so far we have met the milestones of the S-Band process with the European Union. The S-Band payload on the W2A satellite has issues. The antenna is impacted so the coverage is there, but it is not where we wanted it to be from a commercial perspective. We can use it for demonstration purposes and also for customers to test new developments. But, it is clearly not covering what the European Union needs so we have to figure out something by 2016 in order to meet the next milestone. During 2013, we need to take a decision to invest or not to invest in a satellite to reach the 2016 milestone. The shareholders and the management team of Solaris are working on different partnerships. All of this is being worked on, but none of these partnerships have been concluded so far. Most of the focus is on the PPDR (Public Protection and Disaster Recovery) vertical. There is a high interest from those providing these services to national security systems in many different Member States of the European Unions. They want to have a more reliable, state-of-the-art coverage, in order to have 100 percent coverage of their national territories. So, there is a need for Police networks, public safety, security etc. The S-band is a very appealing option to them as it combines terrestrial with satellite. Even if you were to have a terrestrial network down, you would still have satellite in operation. It offers a very secure communications network as a fallback option.

VIA SATELLITE: But, realistically, are you going to invest in a second satellite?

Bausch: It is entirely possible we might invest in a second satellite. We would not do these efforts otherwise. That is the nature of the game. We need to find the right partnerships, the right commitments. If we find those deals, we can then place an order for the second satellite so we can meet the last milestone as defined by the European regulators.