SES S.A.

Business and Services

SES services are provided in the four areas of video, enterprise, mobility, and government.

Video

(68% of revenue)
Video and TV distribution accounts for 70% of the business. With 53 active satellites in geostationary orbit in 37 orbital locations, providing 1,502 active transponders (1,086 in use), SES has the world’s leading video platform, delivering TV and radio signals direct to homes, and via cable and IPTV. As well as distribution SES also provides technical services to broadcasters such as content management, playout, encryption and interactive services, in particular through the MX1 (was SES Platform Services) division.

SES has been a major player in the development of the direct-to-home market in Europe and the cable TV and DBS markets in the U.S. SES satellites transmit a variety of formats from radio to High Definition TV, (HDTV) in MPEG-2 and MPEG-4, and in Europe SES has been instrumental in defining HDTV standards with the HD ready TV specification and label. In the U.S., SES provides cable-feed services and HD-PRIME, the U.S.' largest satellite-based HD channel platform.

Enterprise

(12% of revenue)
SES provides high-throughput data distribution infrastructures to meet the increasing needs for capacity in sectors such as telecommunications, oil and gas, banking, transportation, health, and education. In both geostationary orbit and medium earth orbit (through its investment in O3b), SES offers satellite and integrated connectivity services worldwide.

SES supplies the SES Broadband (previously ASTRA2Connect) satellite-based, broadband internet access for users in remote locations where terrestrial broadband services are not available.

In September 2015, after one full year of operations, O3b had 40 customers across 31 countries.

Mobility

(6% of revenue)
SES is a major actor in maritime and aeronautical connectivity, using the high-bandwidth, global coverage of the SES and O3b satellite fleets to provide media content, technology and connectivity solutions to the travel industry. Maritime users at sea across the globe benefit from high-speed internet connectivity for web browsing, VoIP telephone, email, etc. SES satellites are also used to fulfil the growing popularity of connectivity in the aeronautical industry, such as on-board fast broadband access and high-quality in-flight entertainment.

Government

(12% of revenue)
SES is active in the Hosted payload market, selling space on planned and under-construction satellites to governments and institutions to provide globally redundant and secure networks for end-to-end solutions in security, defence, and information-gathering as well as for humanitarian purposes such as natural disaster response. SES has a history of providing satellite capacity to U.S. Government customers for the delivery of video, internet, voice and data, with clients including the Army, Navy, Air Force, NASA, Coast Guard, Department of State, and the National Park Service, and continues to build on this relationship with new long-term contracts such as the Army WIN-T network.

For Europe, SES' Astra 5B and SES-5 satellites incorporate European geostationary navigation overlay system EGNOS payloads, a supplementary network to the Galileo navigation system. and in a unique partnership, SES and the Luxembourg Government have jointly established LuxGovSat to design, commission, and launch a satellite to provide mission critical secure communications for individual European Governments and NATO.

Innovations

SES has pioneered many industry technological developments, including DTH transmission, co-location of satellites, free-to-air broadcast neighbourhoods, digital broadcasting, HDTV and 3DTV. SES has also helped develop innovative reception technology such as the first home dish LNBFs, Universal LNBs, optical fibre signal distribution and the SAT>IP system for receiving and distributing satellite signals over home computer networks.

SES is currently pioneering the broadcast of next generation Ultra High Definition TV (UHD) and helping to establish the international technical standards for UHD broadcast and reception. SES first produced demonstration UHD broadcasts in 2012 and transmitted the first HEVC-standard UHD TV in 2013. A continuous SES UHD demonstration channel is broadcast to Europe from SES’ Astra 19.2°E satellite position and Europe's first free-to-air Ultra HD channel launched in September 2015, broadcast via Astra 19.2°E. As of April 2016, SES broadcasts 23 Ultra HD channels, of which 15 are commercial operations.

SES-8 was the first geostationary satellite to be launched (in 2013) by privately funded company, SpaceX, which has revolutionised the costs of satellite launches. The SES-10 satellite, was due to be launched in October 2016 on a Falcon 9 rocket, to be the first SpaceX launch with a 'flight-proven' (reused) Falcon first stage, recovered from a previous launch. Unfortunately, due to a pad explosion and subsequent loss of a Falcon 9 booster in September 2016, the earliest possible launch date for SES-10 is 22 February 2017. The SES-12, SES-14 and SES-15 satellites (due for launch in 2017) are being constructed with an electric plasma propulsion system for orbit raising and in-orbit manoeuvres to save weight and enable a larger communications payload to be included. SES reckons that SES-12 would weigh some 4700 kg more with a conventional chemical propulsion system.

Reach

SES' satellites are positioned in more than 30 orbital 'slots' around the World. SES claims that its satellites can reach 99% of the World’s population and (as of end 2015) they carry 7,268 TV channels, including 2,230 High Definition TV channels. The number of channels broadcast by region is as follows:

Corporate management

SES is managed by the Executive Committee, responsible for running the day-to-day operations as well as for preparing the decisions of the Board of Directors. This was put in place in May 2011 to consolidate the then subsidiary companies, SES Astra and SES World Skies under a new "streamlined" management structure. The SES Executive Committee comprises:

In 2002 the then CEO, Romain Bausch was awarded ‘Satellite Executive of the Year’.

Early years

SES was formed on the initiative and support of the Luxembourg Government in 1985 as Société Européenne des Satellites (SES). The Luxembourg State remains a major shareholder. In 1988, as Europe’s first private satellite operator, SES launched its first satellite, Astra 1A, to the 19.2° east orbital position. Rupert Murdoch’s Sky TV, along with German broadcasters Pro7, Sat.1, and RTL were among Astra’s first major customers.

By 1990, Astra was broadcasting to 14 million cable and DTH viewers. SES was the pioneer of ‘co-location’ by which several satellites share the same orbital position to provide mutual backup and increase the number of channels available to a fixed receiving dish, creating what became known as a 'satellite neighbourhood'. Astra's prime slot, 19.2° east, saw as many as eight satellites sharing the position simultaneously and helped to build up Astra’s reputation for reliability.

Rapid growth in Germany, in what would become Astra’s largest European market, was helped by the German government’s decision to liberalize the installation of dishes in 1991. In this time SES became the leading satellite system providing direct-to-home transmission, and became the world’s largest satellite platform for TV distribution.

In 1996, after the launch of Astra 1E, SES pioneered digital satellite transmission with the French Canal+. In 1998, SES launched Astra 2A for the UK market, transmitting at the new orbital position 28.2° east, and eventually moving all of its UK and Ireland transmission capacity to this orbital slot.

In the same year, SES went public on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange trading as SESG (in 2005 SES would also list on the Paris Euronext).

Global expansion

From 1999 SES began a period of ambitious global expansion beyond its European home market. Geographic expansion went hand-in-hand with the diversification of SES’ services beyond just TV broadcasting, to cover telecommunication services for businesses, telecommunications companies and government customers, as well as broadband access and technical consultancy services.

In 1999, SES acquired a 34.13% stake in Hong Kong-based satellite operator AsiaSat and took a foothold in Asia and the Pacific region. A year later, SES acquired 50% of Scandinavian satellite broadcaster Nordic Satellite AB (NSAB), later renamed SES Sirius, which strengthened SES’ coverage in northern and eastern Europe. The same year, SES also took a participation of 19.99% in Brazilian satellite operator Star One, gaining a first presence in Latin America.

In 2001, SES bought 28.75% of Argentina’s Nahuelsat and acquired GE Americom, giving it a solid presence in the important North American market. This resulted in the formation of SES Global, a corporate entity with two operating companies, SES Astra and SES Americom. Altogether, SES operated a fleet of 41 geostationary satellites, the largest in the world in 2001.

Further acquisitions followed. In 2003 SES’ stake in NSAB was increased to 75% and in 2005 SES acquired a participation in Canadian satellite operator Ciel and in Mexico’s Quetzsat, as well as the divestment from Nahuelsat.

SES acquired services provider, Digital Playout Centre GmbH (later Astra Platform Services, then SES Platform Services, now MX1 ) in 2005. and in 2006 SES also acquired ND SatCom, a German provider of government services, developing a services portfolio beyond just bandwidth provision.

Also in 2006, SES acquired New Skies Satellites, later renamed SES New Skies, adding six satellites to the SES fleet and strengthening coverage in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

In 2007 SES divested from its holdings in AsiaSat and Star One in a complex transaction with General Electric which itself divested from SES.

In 2008, SES increased its stake in NSAB to 90%. and merged its two international operating units, SES Americom and SES New Skies into a new segment which was branded SES World Skies in September 2009.

In 2009, SES and Middle East satellite operator Yahsat announced the formation of a joint venture, YahLive, to commercialise 23 Ku-band transponders on Yahsat 1A, serving the Middle East, North Africa and South-West Asia with direct-to-home TV services. Also in 2009, SES announced its investment in O3b Networks a project to build a Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellite constellation to deliver high-speed, low-latency, fibre-like internet broadband trunking to the world's emerging regions ("the Other 3 billion").

In 2010, SES grew its stake in SES Sirius to 100% and closed the acquisition of the in-orbit satellite Protostar-2/Indostar-2, renaming it SES-7 and integrating it into its fleet covering India and South East Asia.

In May and September 2011, SES restructured and rebranded the company to streamline the organisation’s activities under a single management team and one main brand (SES), incorporating the company’s two previous operating entities, SES Astra and SES World Skies.

Global operator

In August 2011 the Astra 1N satellite was launched to the Astra 28.2°E orbital position, and in September the QuetzSat 1 satellite was launched to 77°W

In February 2012, SES-4 was successfully launched to become SES' 50th satellite and the largest, heaviest and most powerful in the fleet. In July 2012, SES-5, the 51st SES Satellite was launched from Baikonur, Kazakhstan to 5°E with 36 Ku-band transponders to provide coverage over Sub-Saharan Africa and the Nordic and the Baltic regions in Europe, and 28 C-band transponders for Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

In September 2012, Astra 2F was successfully launched from Kourou in French Guiana, the first of three "next generation" satellites at the second Astra orbital position at 28.2°E. The satellite has Ku-band coverage of all Europe, the British Isles and sub-Saharan Africa for DTH television, and Ka-band coverage of Central Europe for the SES Broadband satellite internet service.

SES-6 was launched from Baikonur, Kazakhstan on 3 June 2013 to 40.5°E, to replace NSS-806 and provide continuity of service and expansion capacity in C-band for Latin America and the Caribbean. The satellite has 43 C-band and 48 Ku-band transponders with comprehensive coverage of North America, Latin America, Europe and the Atlantic Ocean.

Astra 2E was launched to the Astra 28.2°E position from Baikonur in Kazakhstan on 30 September 2013 to provide free-to-air and encrypted DTH digital TV and satellite broadband services for Europe and the Middle East. The successful launch followed a 10-week delay due to the postponement of all launches by launch services provider ILS after a catastrophic failure of the rocket in a previous launch.

In December 2013, SES-8 was launched from Cape Canaveral using a SpaceX Falcon 9 v1.1, the first geostationary satellite to be launched with a SpaceX rocket.

In March 2014, Astra 5B was launched as SES' 56th satellite to the Astra 31.5°E position from Kourou in French Guiana to provide transponder capacity and extend geographical reach over Central and Eastern Europe, Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States for DTH, direct-to-cable and contribution feeds to digital terrestrial television networks.

In April 2014, Romain Bausch stepped down as President and CEO of SES, a position he had held since 1995 overseeing the growth of the company from a European Direct-to-home satellite system with four satellites into a global satellite industry leader operating a fleet of more than 50 satellites. Bausch continues to serve SES as a non-executive Director, and is elected to take the role of Chairman at the start of 2015. He was succeeded as CEO by Karim Michel Sabbagh.

In July 2014 SES announced that nearly half of the SES satellite fleet is controlled from the new satellite operations center (SOC) opened at its sales and engineering offices in Princeton, New Jersey. 23 satellites are controlled from Princeton with the remainder operated from SES’s global headquarters in Luxembourg.

Astra 2G, the final "next generation" satellite for the Astra 28.2°E orbital position was launched from the Baikonur in December 2014 to deliver broadcast, VSAT and broadband services to Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and to connect West Africa to Europe via Ka-band.

Recent events

On January 13, 2015, SES announced that it plans to procure and launch a satellite in partnership with the Luxembourg Government, to be called GovSat-1. Jointly owned, the satellite will be launched in 2017 to an orbital position above Europe and provide governmental and military communications in the X-band and Ka-band with coverage of Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific.

In February 2016, it was announced that, subject to regulatory approvals, subsidiary, SES Platform Services would purchase RR Media, a global digital media services provider to the broadcast and media industries, based in Israel. In July 2016, SES announced that the acquisition was complete and that the merged company would be known as MX1.

In March 2016, the SES-9 satellite was successfully launched by a Falcon 9 full thrust rocket from Cape Canaveral after four previous attempts on February 24, 2016, February 25, 2016, February 28, 2016, and March 1, 2016 - all aborted due to weather and launcher problems. The satellite used electric propulsion to reach geostationary orbit and will be positioned at 108.2°E to provide 81 Ku-band transponder equivalents for pay-TV, data and mobility across North east and South Asia, and Indonesia.

In April 2016, SES announced that (subject to regulatory approvals which are expected to be completed by the end of 2016) it will pay $US20 million to increase its fully diluted ownership of O3b from 49.1% to 50.5%, taking a controlling share in the company. In May 2016, SES said it would raise another $710 million to purchase 100% of O3b Networks, exercising a call option with O3b minority shareholders and eliminating the possibility of an O3b stock offering, and then subsequently announced the completion of the capital raising.

In May 2016, Modern Times Group, owner of the Viasat DTH platform announced that the Viasat Ultra HD channel would launch in the autumn on the SES-5 satellite at 5°E, as the first UHD channel for the Nordic region and the first UHD Sports channel in the World. The channel will feature selected live sport events especially produced in Ultra HD and Viasat will also be launching an Ultra HD set-top box from Samsung and a TV-module to enable existing UHD TVs to display the channel. SES claimed the launch of Viasat Ultra HD will bring the number of UHD channels (including test channels and regional versions) carried on SES satellites to 24, or 46% of all UHD channels broadcast via satellite worldwide.

Satellite fleet

The following active satellites are owned and operated by SES

Teleports

SES, and its subsidiary companies has teleports across the world, including:

SES Government Solutions operates Earth stations at the following US Government locations:

In September 2016, SES announced that it would build a new teleport on the Isle of Man to provide satellite telemetry, tracking and command, and capacity management, as well as uplink, downlink, and contribution services, and is expected to enter into service in 2017.