SES headquarters in Luxembourg. Photo: SES

SES’s defense subsidiary received a multi-year contract worth $46.8 million to provide managed satellite services to the U.S. Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). SES Space & Defense announced the contract on Wednesday. 

Under the contract, SES will provide Geostationary (GEO) Ku-band satellite services to support the ACC’s remotely piloted aircraft training and testing program. This includes ground-to-air and air-to-ground transmissions coverage over the continental United States, Hawaii, Alaska, and the Pacific Ocean for airborne operations. SES’s Global Network Operations Center (GNOSC) will also provide network management and monitoring support.

SES Space & Defense President and CEO David Fields noted this is the third contract iteration for the remotely piloted aircraft testing and training program. “We look forward to continue delivering superior performance leveraging our GEO HTS in support of this effort,” he commented.