The company is collaborating with innovative NewSpace firm K2 Space to co-develop infrastructure and technologies for its forthcoming MEO network.
Earlier this year, the two companies began development activities to validate network technologies for commercial and sovereign government applications, with an on-orbit mission scheduled for the first quarter of 2026.
“Our future MEO network will evolve through agile innovation cycles,” said Adel Al-Saleh, CEO of SES. “By collaborating with K2 Space and other trusted innovative partners, we’re combining our solutions development experience and operational depth with NewSpace agility to develop a flexible, software-defined network that adapts to customer requirements.”
Development efforts will span Europe and the United States, aiming to overcome long development timelines while accelerating delivery of high-value network services.
“This collaboration is about rethinking how advanced space networks are developed,” said Karan Kunjur, CEO of K2 Space.
“SES brings extensive operational expertise, and we bring the speed and flexibility of a technology startup. Together, we’re building the foundation for a network that is scalable and adaptable to a broad range of applications.”
SES’s future MEO network will feature modular growth, open architecture, software-defined capabilities, and support for both commercial and government solutions. It is designed to enable multi-mission capabilities such as hosted payloads, space situational awareness, direct-to-device data relay, sovereign services, and reliable enterprise backhaul.
In a parallel initiative, SES has also announced it will test new optical ground stations built by France-based Cailabs to transmit data from space using laser beams rather than radio waves. Optical communication can boost data transmission speeds, improve security, and reduce congestion in increasingly crowded radio frequency bands.
“Our Optical Ground Station technology, already field-proven with a variety of satellites and terminals, offers top performance in mitigating atmospheric turbulence and maintaining resilient communications, while delivering features that are essential for secure communications in today’s most demanding environments,” said Jean-François Morizur, CEO of Cailabs.
The new TILBA-OGS L10 stations enable two-way transmissions at 10 Gbps and can be operated remotely, making them practical for broad deployment.
“Optical communication can provide much higher bandwidth, better data security, and less risk of spectrum congestion,” said Carmel Ortiz, SVP of MEO programmes at SES. “The Cailabs Optical Ground Stations can play a central role in our global network of gateways with access to high-throughput infrastructure.”
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