Hot on the heels of launching additional O3b mPower satellites to complete its constellation and strengthen performance, resiliency and reach of its medium Earth orbit (MEO) network, space operator SES has expanded its collaboration with Elveo Mobile to accelerate delivery of direct-to-device (D2D) services in Europe.
Elveo Mobile delivers mobile connectivity and intelligence directly from satellites to smartphones, internet of things (IoT) devices and machines worldwide. Its global always-on next-generation network connect their customers across enterprise, government and humanitarian sectors.
The partnership will see SES use leverage Elveo’s D2D technology to enable what is called “seamless” mobile roaming capabilities for European consumers, businesses, governments, institutional and defence users. To realise the aim, the two firms said that they will collaborate to establish manufacturing capabilities and a supply chain in Europe for the productions of the low-earth orbit (LEO) D2D satellites, using Elveo’s patented D2D satellite bus, payload and software technology stack.
In addition, the LEO D2D satellites will form part of “a unique multi-orbit architecture”, combining Elveo’s LEO D2D network with SES’s geostationary (GEO) and MEO networks capable of delivering secure and reliable connectivity to European governments and institutions, including NATO.
The firms added that European customers also stand to benefit from SES’s global distribution of Elveo’s D2D services, which use Elveo’s 2 GHz S-band spectrum rights and a global market access footprint currently covering more than a billion people.
“European consumers, commercial and government users deserve resilient, secure, multi-orbit connectivity, and SES is preparing to deliver that next layer of communications in combination with Elveo’s direct-to-device services,” said SES chief executive officer Adel Al-Saleh. “Working with our partner Elveo will help bring critical D2D services to European customers on the timeline they demand.”
Elveo CEO Ramu Potarazu added: “SES is the right partner for Elveo to bring D2D services to Europe. Together, we are committed to delivering D2D connectivity for European customers and establishing the manufacturing capabilities needed to support them. By working closely with SES, we are confident we can accelerate access to critical D2D connectivity for European mobile operators and governments that depend on them.”
Meanwhile, the successful launch of its eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth O3b mPower satellites, further expand SES’s second-generation MEO system designed to offer high-performance connectivity services around the world and, added Al-Saleh, mark a defining milestone for SES.
“[The launch] reinforces our ability to deliver resilient, secure and scalable connectivity for customers around the world, helping governments, enterprises, cloud providers and mobility customers meet their most critical needs,” said Al-Saleh. “As customer demands continue to evolve, SES is focused on building smarter, more integrated solutions that bring together the strengths of multiple technologies and orbits to deliver seamless connectivity worldwide.”
Once operational by mid-2027, the newly launched O3b mPower satellites are seen as being able to support high-performance connectivity capacity for enterprise and mobility. Examples include connectivity operating in underserved, remote and demanding environments, setting the foundation for the next generation of sovereign, secure communications, space data relay and hosted payloads.
The three satellites launched today will join the 10 O3b mPower spacecraft already in operation, offering services ranging from tens of Mbps to multiple gigabits per second of capacity.
