SES signs MoU with Kazakhstan
April 19, 2021
By Chris Forrester
Just days after OneWeb signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Kazakhstan, SES has done the same.
SES has signed a MoU with Kazakhstan for its O3b mPOWER satellite fleet. The agreement has been signed specifically with the country’s Republican Center for Space Communications (RCSC), a subsidiary of the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry, and SES.
SES says that the MoU was signed for satellite-enabled, high-speed connectivity services using SES’s O3b mPOWER communications system in Kazakhstan to accelerate the Digital Kazakhstan project.
Under this MoU, RCSC will explore utilising SES’s next-generation, high-performance, low-latency constellation scheduled to launch in Q3 2021. Located at 8,000km away from the Earth’s surface in a medium earth orbit (MEO), the fully-funded O3b mPOWER system will provide global coverage with as few as six satellites, and will ramp capacity with its current plan of 11 satellites. The system is capable of delivering dedicated services at multiple gigabits per second with unprecedented flexibility and resiliency, ensuring constant, efficient usage of bandwidth.
SES says the parties will also explore creating an in-country gateway for O3b mPOWER. SES has committed to knowledge transfer programmes to advance the digital transformation process of enterprise and government sectors in Kazakhstan. SES has also established a local presence in Kazakhstan as of last year and will be making a direct in-country investment.