SES wins DoD contract
October 20, 2023
By Chris Forrester
SES is one of 16 suppliers awarded contracts from the US Department of Defense for what is described as “Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite-based services (SBS)”. The contract came from the US Space Force and the US Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA).
The contracts cover demands for the US Department of Defense (DoD), other federal agencies, and international coalition partners who can acquire fully managed low-latency LEO SBS from selected awardees, including SES Space & Defense.
SES said: “As the industry’s leading COMSATCOM operator and integrator, SES Space & Defense possesses distinct advantages in providing the US DoD with value-added solutions at the tactical edge. The company leverages SES’s global fleet of more than 70 Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) and Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites, coupled with LEO partnerships, to create a fully managed and integrated terrestrial and space network. Satellite services delivered via multiple orbits enable a comprehensive range of new connectivity capabilities for the US DoD. Non-geostationary satellite orbits (NGSO) – LEO and MEO – provide low-latency and flexible, fiber-like connectivity ideal for high-bandwidth, real-time applications, while GEO satellites enhance global resiliency and redundancy enabling a broader scope of government use cases.”
SES Space & Defense also offers enterprise management and control (EM&C) capabilities, facilitating a seamless, integrated network of COMSATCOM and MILSATCOM systems and extensive experience in building and operating global networks. This enables DoD users to enjoy resilient, redundant, and secure multi-orbit, multi-band network solutions.
“The proliferated LEO IDIQ is the first multiple award contract to deliver pLEO COMSATCOM services to the government and military,” commented SES Space & Defense President and CEO, David Fields. “The contract structure is part of the US Space Force’s new approach to acquiring SATCOM. These awards are foundational for COMSATCOM integration and proliferation into new waveforms and orbits enabling connectivity and communication at the tactical edge.”
The other contract awardees include ARINC; Artel; Capella Federal; BlackSky Geospatial Solutions; DRS Global Enterprise Solutions; Hughes Network Systems; Inmarsat Government; KGS; Intelsat General; OneWeb Technologies; PAR Government; RiteNet; Satcom Direct Government. (SDG); SpaceX; Trace Systems; and UltiSat.
The contract is valued at $900 million spread over 5 years.