Arianespace to launch 4 O3b satellites next week
March 1, 2018
By Chris Forrester
Four O3b satellites owned by SES in its SES Networks division will be launched on March 6th, subject to the usual weather limitations.
Arianespace will use one of its smaller Soyuz rockets for the task.
Built by Thales Alenia Space, the four O3b medium earth orbit (MEO) satellites will join the existing O3b fleet of 12 satellites and help deliver high-speed connectivity over Ka-band frequencies.
By expanding its O3b fleet, SES is growing the addressable market for its broadband services and adding 38 percent more capacity across the globe.
These four will take the O3b fleet to 16 spacecraft. A further four are planned to launch in 2019.
SES also has a further seven satellites for O3b being built by Boeing and on order as its ‘next generation’ mPower craft.