SES has started work on its meoSphere satellite constellation for medium Earth orbit (MEO)

Adel Al’Saleh, CEO of SES, revealed the news at the World Space Business Week event, taking place in Paris this week.

“We are working on our next-generation MEO solution – meoSphere,” Al’Saleh told attendees. “The approach to that network will be very different to those in our past. We won’t look at this satellite-by-satellite, we’ll look at this as one network – an iterative, agile, developmental approach. We’ll be incrementally building this, and every year, improving the network, with downward and forward compatibility.”

SES is still working on integrating with Intelsat following its merger this year. Al’Saleh spoke to labor synergies that were still being aligned, as well as the integrations of network power and product portfolios, which have eliminated some of the need for new investment as new solutions meet in the merged entity.

“We’re bringing two legacy companies together, and we didn’t want to end up with a legacy giant – the merged company is a newcomer on the scene,” Al’Saleh said. “We’ve spoken often about our need to change our innovation cycle. It can take years to come up with specs, and five years plus to deliver on those specs. We had to change this. The industry is very competitive, and our competition is moving so much faster, which is leading to our consumers expecting more.”

SES intends to test and launch the infrastructure for meoSphere as early as Q1 2026, ahead of the finalization of its satellite designs, a development pace which Al’Saleh said was emblematic of the company’s newfound philosophy. He said his firm will balance the need for speed with a very disciplined approach to capital expenditure allocation, to create a consistent spending pattern that will meet the approval of the company's investors.

The new design philosophy will be iterative, agile, and developmental, incrementally building and improving a new MEO solution that would be downward and forward compatible.

The company also announced a new partnership with LA-based K2 Space, a satellite manufacturer with expertise in the defense sector. Al’Saleh said the partnership would bring strong experience and added engineering agility.

SES also revealed today that the French Navy’s aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle used its O3b mPOWER satcom service – Managed Naval mPOWERED – during the Clemenceau 25 mission, which saw the vessel cover 40,000 nautical miles over five months, conducting various exercises around 20 allied nations. SES supported all of the aircraft carrier’s operations, while facilitating collaboration with mission partners.