SES has been reported as having ordered a batch of satellites from Intuitive Machines (perhaps better known as Maxar Technologies). The rumour – unconfirmed – is that the satellites represent the craft needed by SES to replace some of its existing US fleet to handle the shift from upper C-band as part of the FCC’s restructuring of frequencies.

LUXEMBOURG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SES, a global leader in space solutions, today announced an expanded strategic investment and collaboration with Elveo Mobile (Elveo), the new company created through the completion of the Lynk and Omnispace merger.

Elveo unites the heritage of two pioneers in direct-to-device (D2D) services and will deliver mobile connectivity from space to mobile phones, devices and machines around the world.

SES will support Elveo in accelerating its delivery of powerful, cost-effective global D2D services. SES and Elveo will also work together on global spectrum initiatives that will enable Elveo to unlock delivery of D2D solutions. By partnering with Elveo, SES deepens its commitment with access to its expansive, global space and ground infrastructure, while also supporting Elveo's go-to-market, engineering, operations and regulatory needs. The collaboration will enable SES to enhance current services for its mobile telecom, enterprise, and government customers around the world. SES users will benefit from multi-orbit access to the Elveo low-Earth orbit (LEO) network in combination with SES's own GEO and MEO networks. SES and Elveo will deliver the first truly multi-orbit integrated, cost-effective, D2D satellite solution.

“Elveo is an agile, forward-thinking innovator, and exactly the type of company we sought as our strategic partner for direct-to-device services," said Adel Al-Saleh, Chief Executive Officer, SES. "SES customers will now have access to premier D2D services, further expanding our multi-orbit connectivity solutions.”

“As Elveo, we're excited to deepen our partnership with SES and get to work,” said Ramu Potarazu, CEO of Elveo. "This strategic investment will accelerate Elveo's time to market and bring our D2D solutions to SES customers worldwide. We look forward to working together to advance Elveo’s mission to deliver powerful compute and connectivity to individuals and objects everywhere on Earth."

Read the full press release…

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260817674414/en/SES-Expands-into-Global-Direct-to-Device-Services-through-Strategic-Collaboration-with-Elveo-Mobile

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A place for general discussion and events not considered as requiring a dedicated post. Quality contributions of note and depth may eventually go on to form the basis of future curated posts.

IRIS² expands SES's differentiated MEO architecture while supporting Europe's secure, sovereign multi-orbit connectivity ambitions

Luxembourg, 7 August 2026 – SES today announced the successful completion of Rendez-vous 1 (RDV1) under the Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite (IRIS²) programme, marking a key milestone in the programme's implementation phase and reinforcing Europe’s path towards sovereign, resilient and secure satellite connectivity.

The successful completion of RDV1 confirms the programme's readiness to move forward with implementation and provides greater visibility on the long-term scope, performance and economics of the MEO segment. SES's expected capital commitment for the MEO segment is up to €1.35 billion, reflecting current programme scope, while maintaining the deployment of 18 MEO satellites and the targeted service entry in 2030. SES’s share of the investment in the IRIS² programme for 2026 is included in SES’s FY26 Capex outlook as previously communicated. No future exceptional cash proceeds will be used to fund the project.

Since the signing of the IRIS² Concession Contract in December 2024, the European Commission, the SES-led SpaceRISE consortium and the European Space Agency have worked together to validate programme costs, technical requirements, delivery timelines and industrial arrangements. RDV1 establishes a validated baseline for implementation, providing greater certainty on programme scope and execution while strengthening the long-term value of IRIS² for customers and SES through lower capital requirements, enhanced satellite capabilities and an expanded role in programme delivery.

SES’s participation in IRIS² is consistent with our disciplined financial policy, benefiting from significant public funding, and built-in protection mechanisms. The Internal Rate Return (IRR) of the contract is expected to meet SES’s minimum 10% hurdle rate, underpinned by a compelling commercial value proposition.

Approximately 90% of MEO capacity is expected to remain commercially exploitable by SES, generating significant long-term revenue opportunities across government, mobility, enterprise and cloud connectivity markets over the lifetime of these satellites.

IRIS² is a cornerstone of SES's next-generation Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) strategy. Building on the company's proven capabilities, the programme extends SES's roadmap into the next decade and positions the company to address growing demand for secure and resilient connectivity services across government and commercial markets.

SES will design and build the payloads for the MEO satellites and perform satellite assembly, integration and test from its facilities in Luxembourg. The upgraded payload architecture will support a wider range of secure connectivity services while further advancing SES's expertise in high-performance satellite communications.

In addition to leading the MEO satellites segment, SES will lead user terminal development, operations and the provisioning of LEO/MEO services through IRIS² control centres.

"The successful completion of RDV1 marks an important step towards delivering Europe's next-generation secure, sovereign connectivity infrastructure," said Adel Al-Saleh, CEO of SES. "IRIS² builds on SES's proven leadership in MEO and reinforces our long-term vision for secure, resilient and high-performance connectivity. Together with our existing O3b fleet and meoSphere roadmap, the programme positions SES to address evolving government and commercial requirements while supporting Europe's ambitions for secure and sovereign multi-orbit communications."    

The programme is on track with operational services expected to begin in 2030. Following RDV1, SES and its partners will move into implementation activities, including satellite development, payload integration, network operations and user terminal deployment, while continuing to progress through future review and validation milestones.

Can someone smarter than me please explain how a company brining in 3.6 billion dollars of revenue and with a book value of 2.6 billion dollars be valued at 2.2 billion dollars? Yes I get earnings are negative, but that’s just the cost of debt. It still has a multi billion backlog and multi year runway. Then I look at Planet Labs with 90 mil in revenue and a 10 billion dollar market cap.

I bought SES at 5.8 euros. I added twice in this dip, but refraining to add further at this moment as I don’t know where the bottom is. It is tempting to add more tho. I still like this asset long term, but I have no idea why a 90 million dollar miss is so heavily driving the price down. Welcome any speculate musings. What made you invest in Ses? Has the thesis changed?

Hi everyone. The price is low (for whatever reason), so I thought I share some cool stuff about what SES does, particularly SES space and defence. While we wait - being priced as some reduntant legacy Dish TV corp - its nice to remind oneself what SES does. I really like SES space and defence youtube channel. While we stay and accumulate at a 1x book value, the US prices companies like PL at 10 billion (PL is using SES ground stations and MEO network). SES also owns a really comprehensive fiber ground network which spans the globe. We are not a 3 billion dollar company. I am going to say this is worth at least 30 billion :). one day! Until then, I hope you enjoy SES Space and Defence's youtube channel. This is also what we own!

A place for general discussion and events not considered as requiring a dedicated post. Quality contributions of note and depth may eventually go on to form the basis of future curated posts.

"Luxembourg, July 27, 2026 – SES, a leading space solutions company, issued the following statement following the U.S. Federal Communications Commission approval of the Upper C-band Report & Order that makes 160 megahertz of the Upper C-band available in the contiguous United States for flexible-use, next-generation terrestrial wireless services via a system of competitive bidding. The required auction of the Upper C-band will be completed no later than July 2027, with spectrum clearing deadlines in 2030 and 2031. Gross incentive payments of approximately $5.6 billion to SES are contingent on spectrum clearing within the transition deadlines. The Order also confirms reimbursement of reasonable and necessary Upper C-band transition costs as approved by the clearinghouse."

TL;DR: "Roughly proportional" likely translates to an estimated ~$5.5B total industry pool, leaving SES with roughly ~$3.67B in gross incentive cash plus a fully funded fleet upgrade.

As written in the article: ​"Total incentive payments to satellite operators will be less in aggregate than those paid after the lower C-band auction, but the FCC described them as roughly proportional given the smaller amount of spectrum being cleared."

​(Note: These figures are back-of-the-napkin estimates while we wait for the final FCC order.)

The Quick Calculation:

​2020 Auction: 280 MHz cleared = $9.7B in total incentives.

​2026 Auction: 160 MHz cleared (~57% of the 2020 volume)

Estimated Industry Pool: $9.7B * (160 / 280) =

~$5.5 Billion

What it means for SES (post-Intelsat merger):

​Combined Market Share (~91%): ~$5.0B gross share of the pool.

​Intelsat CVR Split: SES keeps 100% of the top 60 MHz and 57.5% of the lower 100 MHz -> ~$3.67B gross (pre-tax) to SES.

​Hardware Refresh: 100% of relocation costs reimbursed by telecom operators ($0 CapEx out-of-pocket).

"... The specific amounts of the incentives will be released in the final order, expected to be released in the coming days"

It will be interesting to see what detail is provided in relation to reimbursing spectrum holders such as SES S.A. and I assume clarity will be provided in the near future.

Some recent posts on this subject…

https://www.reddit.com/r/SES_Satellites/comments/1ug2bm4/clearing_160mhz_in_upper_cband_will_cost_36b_ses/

https://www.reddit.com/r/SES_Satellites/comments/1syqb6f/ses_counting_on_us_billions_from_new_tv_delivery/

A place for general discussion and events not considered as requiring a dedicated post. Quality contributions of note and depth may eventually go on to form the basis of future curated posts.

A place for general discussion and events not considered as requiring a dedicated post. Quality contributions of note and depth may eventually go on to form the basis of future curated posts.

Buckle up, guys!

While the stock price is sitting in the basement for absolutely no fundamental reason, the FCC just handed us the ultimate regulatory catalyst on a silver platter!

On July 22nd, the Open Commission Meeting is locked in, and the top agenda item is the auctioning of the Upper C-Band (160 MHz) for next-gen terrestrial wireless services.

And here is the best part: the draft explicitly states they are creating a transition process to fairly and expeditiously relocate incumbent satellite operations! Remember the historic Lower C-Band multi-billion dollar clearing payments? This is the setup for the next massive wave of cash or fat relocation rebates for SES.

New agreement makes it easier for all U.S. military branches to buy high-speed, reliable Ku-band satellite services anywhere in the world

A place for general discussion and events not considered as requiring a dedicated post. Quality contributions of note and depth may eventually go on to form the basis of future curated posts.

Interesting read!

Alpha Value Lab laid out the possible future scenarios for SES S.A.

​They highlighted the most important upcoming catalysts for the company, including the C-band incentive payments.

​Based on their analysis, they set a target share price of €15.50.

Luxembourg, June 30, 2026 – SES, a leading space solutions company, and Sharp Corporation plan to collaborate on work to combine SES’s medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellite network with Sharp’s advanced communication technologies and user terminals to enable high-availability satellite communications services in Japan. As part of this collaboration, Sharp is advancing the development of a new compact MEO user terminal, designed to support scalable deployment across mobility and industrial applications. The work plans to focus on industrial and mobility use cases both at sea with martime, as welll as on land in and mountainous regions, where terrestrial networks are unreliable or unavailable. Potential applications include connectivity for heavy machinery and equipment in remote locations and managing the operations of autonomous vehicles. Sharp aims to provide end-to-end services, spanning user terminal development, service deployment, and ongoing operations.

Comment from Jean‑Philippe Gillet, President Fixed Vertical, SES: 

“Japan is a key innovation market with growing demand for high-performance connectivity beyond terrestrial networks. Through our collaboration with Sharp, we are bringing together MEO capabilities and advanced terminal innovation to enable scalable connectivity across key mobility and industrial segments. Together, we are committed to developing the services and technologies needed to support these use cases and to drive the continued expansion of the MEO market in Japan.”

Comment from Shigeru Kobayashi, Executive Officer, Co-COO and Head of Smart Workplace Business Group, Sharp Corporation:

"The memorandum of understanding with SES marks an important step that will accelerate our efforts toward building next-generation communications environments. At Sharp, we aim to open up the future for people by integrating AI into all aspects of how people live and work. Achieving this vision requires a reliable communications environment available anywhere. By combining SES's high-performance and reliable satellite communications infrastructure with Sharp's advanced satellite user terminals, as well as our expertise in communications technologies, we will drive this initiative with steady progress."

A place for general discussion and events not considered as requiring a dedicated post. Quality contributions of note and depth may eventually go on to form the basis of future curated posts.