SES posts 80% revenue jump as aviation connectivity drives Q1 growth

The results, reported on May 12, came in line with market expectations. SES signed €306 million in new business and contract renewals during the quarter and reiterated its full-year guidance.

The company attributed the headline growth rate in part to the consolidation of Intelsat, which SES acquired in July 2025, creating a combined operator with a fleet of around 120 satellites across geostationary and medium earth orbits and a contract backlog now exceeding €7.9 billion.

Aviation was the standout segment. CEO Adel Al-Saleh said in his statement that nearly 600 aircraft are now flying with the SES multi-orbit inflight connectivity system, delivering fast, dependable internet access to millions of passengers.

The quarter brought a significant new commitment from Japan Airlines, which agreed to install SES’s system as a line-fit solution on 20 Airbus A350-900s and 10 Boeing 787-9s, with deliveries beginning in 2028, as well as a retrofit order covering an additional 10 787-9s. Japan Airlines has been an SES customer since 2013.

The company also reached a milestone with Boeing toward offering its multi-orbit connectivity system as a factory line-fit solution across all Boeing commercial aircraft models. Under the collaboration, Boeing will install SES’s in-cabin hardware network on production aircraft during factory build, giving airlines the option to receive new aircraft with onboard connectivity already in place and service-ready immediately after delivery.

Full line-fit offerability across Boeing’s commercial portfolio is expected by 2027. SES’s multi-orbit electronically steered array system has now completed 500 aircraft installations, with a further 1,000 commitments in the pipeline.

The multi-orbit architecture combining low earth orbit and geostationary satellite coverage, is central to SES’s competitive positioning in aviation, offering lower latency and more consistent global coverage than single-orbit systems, particularly on long-haul routes where performance has historically been variable.

On the European infrastructure front, SES extended its EGNOS GEO-1 satellite service agreement with the EU Agency for the Space Programme through 2030, maintaining high-precision navigation services for aviation and other critical users across the continent.

The company also continued to progress orders for the IRIS² sovereign connectivity programme, working with the European Commission to validate costs, technical requirements and delivery timelines.

For the full year 2025, SES reported revenue of €2.94 billion following the Intelsat consolidation, with aviation revenue up 145% year-on-year within the networks segment. The company plans capital expenditure of approximately €840 million in 2026, including investment in IRIS² and the first phase of meoSphere, its next-generation multi-mission MEO network. The launch of O3b mPOWER satellites 11 to 13 is scheduled for the second half of the year.

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