An SES uplink antenna. Photo: SES

[Via Satellite 02-29-2016] SES CEO Karim Sabbagh is attributing the company’s 5 percent jump in revenue, and latest slew of acquisitions and major contracts to its ongoing efforts in globalization. As the Luxembourg-based satellite operator looks to continue diversifying its business, we’ve rounded up everything you need to know about SES’ latest business moves and upcoming launch efforts to extend its mobile, video, government and enterprise satellite offerings worldwide.

SES 9: Racing to Augment Asia-Pacific Coverage

SES has set its sights on the sky as it looks to the launch of its SES 9 satellite, which aims to replace the company’s NSS 11 satellite currently at 108.2 degrees east, and augment video and mobility services in Northeast Asia, South Asia and Indonesia, as well as maritime communications for vessels in the Indian Ocean. The Boeing-built 12,000-pound hybrid chemical and electrical propulsion satellite was originally set for a launch on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket in March 2015, but faced almost a full year delay from its original date.

SES CTO Martin Halliwell told Via Satellite that the company is hoping to reduce some of those delays, however, with a modification to its launch profile that can reduce the spacecraft’s time to orbit by an estimated 45 days.

“What we are going to do is to run a minimum residual shutdown mission. On the second stage of the rocket, SpaceX will give us a few seconds of extra burn time, and that burn time is going to reduce our orbit rate by about 45 days, we believe. The exact number is still in development, but we are going to drop down from about 93 days of orbit raising to about 45 days. It’s a big deal,” said Halliwell, noting that it isn’t detrimental to the rocket or the profile, but allows the company to “use the absolute limit of capacity” of the second stage. “It’s amazing how a handful of seconds will reduce 45 days of orbit raising,” he added.

The value of the depleted time to orbit is diminished as the company sees further delays on the Cape Canaveral, Fla. launch pad, however. SES 9 has already realized three launch delays since its scheduled Feb. 24 date; as of yet SpaceX has not set a date for a fourth attempt.

Once in orbit, more than 22,000 miles over the equator, the television broadcast satellite will serve to deliver primarily video, such as pay-TV and HD TV. Halliwell notes that the satellite likely won’t deliver Ultra-HD to the region since the company is still seeing the “morphing from standard definition to high definition packages,” specifically in the Indonesian and Philippine markets.

“Our analysis is that there are over 22 million homes that we believe we can access,” said Halliwell. “It’s a very, very significant revenue opportunity with SES 9.”

With Asia’s economy on the uptick and regional satellite providers creating a crowded landscape there, Halliwell admits that remaining profitable in the region is a challenge, but that SES can deliver certain services, such as collocated satellites, that he believes other operators in the region are not able to offer.

“We have been in the Asia Pacific for many years with SES 8 co-positioned with SES’ NSS 6 satellite at the orbital location of 95 degrees east and NSS 11 at 108.2 degrees, just to mention two. But now, we see SES 9 as a springboard to develop to the next stage. The regional operators are there, they are going to continue to be there and they have a very significant and important role to play there, but we believe that there is a very big market for the spacecraft and, hopefully, a lucrative one,” said Halliwell.

Looking ahead, the company’s first High Throughput Satellite (HTS), SES 12, will serve to augment and expand coverage in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in terms of aeronautical connectivity. The satellite is currently under construction and is set to launch in the fourth quarter of 2017.

“We are going to have 72 beams across Asia and Southeast Asia with the launch of that satellite, which will really take the data world to another level,” said Halliwell.

RR Media Acquisition: Expanding Media Services

In an effort to expand its media services capabilities, SES announced on Feb. 26 the acquisition of RR Media, a company that provides global digital media services to an estimated 1,000 media and broadcast companies. The company’s services include Video-on-Demand (VOD) platforms and Direct-to-Home (DTH), and cover four main areas: global content distribution network with a combination of satellite, fiber and the Internet; content management and playout services; management and delivery of premium sports, news and live events around the world; and other online video services.

Christophe De Hauwer, SES chief development officer, said during a Feb. 26 conference call to discuss its 2015 full-year financial results, that the acquisition will help SES extend its market outside of Europe.

“If we think of SES Platform Services, this great business is generating 3 percent of its revenues outside of Europe — so 97 percent in Europe. RR Media generates 66 percent of its revenues outside of Europe. So, you see that already by putting those two businesses together, we enable a much wider footprint geographically of the delivery of our solutions,” De Hauwer said.

De Hauwer anticipates the $242 million acquisition will close mid-year 2016, at the end of the second quarter or early third quarter. He also noted that the return on investment generated by the acquisition would be around 15 percent. “In terms of revenue generation for the business this year, RR Media will generate between $160 million and $170 million,” he told investors and journalists during the call.

In-Flight Connectivity: Contracts Galore

In the last few months, SES struck up contracts with the three primary In-Flight Connectivity (IFC) providers: Gogo, Panasonic Avionics and Global Eagle Entertainment (GEE). In the last week alone, SES announced contracts with Panasonic Avionics and Gogo for HTS capacity from SES 14 and SES 15, which are currently under construction and scheduled for launch in 2017.

The two coming satellites would help Gogo increase bandwidth for airline passengers connected with 2Ku traveling routes over North America, Central America and the Caribbean. Gogo’s deal alone, according to CEO Michael Small, is the largest dedicated aviation capacity deal ever struck.

In October, IFC provider GEE also contracted for additional SES Ku-band capacity, adding bandwidth on six SES satellites — SES 1, AMC 1, AMC 2, AMC 3, NSS 12 and Astra 4A — effectively doubling the company’s satellite capacity in an effort to connect airline passengers. These pre-launch commitments help validate SES’ HTS strategy, which dovetails with the company’s globalization efforts.

“In the world of HTS we envisage to reach the 75 percent utilization level later on since it will take a longer time. But in … the case of mobility, we were ahead of the curve. We are, in fact, ahead of the curve even before launching the satellite,” Sabbagh said during the company’s Feb. 26 conference call.

The contracts will likely cause SES’ profits in its mobility segment to buoy above the 24 percent growth rate it enjoyed in 2015 over 2014 revenues.

“Mobility was our fastest growing segment. It’s still small — 3 percent of our total top line — but at a basis of growth of close to 25 percent, this has been remarkable considering that this is a segment where we stepped in probably two to three years ago,” said Sabbagh.