LEO Interest Overshadowing Medium Earth Orbit for Now: SES
The lack of satellite industry activity in medium earth orbit (MEO) is inexplicable, said Diego Paldao, SES' director of Americas sales and business development. During a Fierce Network webinar Wednesday on satellite connectivity, Paldao said low earth orbit (LEO) is seeing a “Pied Piper effect,” with many viable companies putting up or planning LEO broadband services. SES’ purchase of O3b and that company’s MEO system gave it the advantages of broad coverage without as many satellites as LEO would require, he said. SES’ O3b investment has paid off, he added, with the first generation of O3b maxed out in capacity, necessitating the higher-power O3b mPower constellation. The ninth and 10th mPowers launched in July. Paldao said the satellite industry focus on LEO might have eclipsed interest in MEO for now.
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Deepu Pillai, SES' senior manager of strategy and market intelligence, said its purchase of Intelsat, which closed in July (see 2507170002), gives SES a variety of spectrum assets and capabilities that are in demand, especially for military applications. The addition of Intelsat will also help SES offer more managed services to customers, he said.