SES announced on Monday that it has launched two more O3b mPOWER satellites into medium orbit, making its mPOWER satellite broadband offering ready for service despite reported electrical problems with the satellites.
O3b’s fifth and six mPOWER satellites were launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Sunday. The mPOWER satellites are designed to scale to multiple Gbps throughput, which is ten times more than the original generation of O3b MEO satellites currently in orbit.
The latest launch completes the minimum number of MEO satellites SES needs to offer mPOWER services globally. SES says the first four satellites launched in the last year have arrived at their target orbital position and are undergoing in-orbit checks, including system validation tests for both space and ground components.
“With the fifth and sixth O3b mPOWER satellites launched and going operational in the next few months, we are gearing up to deliver the high-performance connectivity services our customers need,” SES CEO Ruy Pinto said in a statement on Monday.
However, the first four satellites, manufactured by Boeing, have experienced an increasing number of power module switch-offs over the past few months due to a design glitch, which will impact their operational life. The two satellites launched on Sunday have the same glitch.
On October 31, SES said in its year-to-date financial results for the nine and three-month periods ending September 30, 2023 that it will put mitigations in place to compensate for the power glitch.
SES also said it will upgrade the remaining planned five mPOWER satellites to fix the problem. It will also commission two more satellites, raising the total number of satellites in the mPOWER constellation from 11 to 13.
SES says all of these adjustments are still within the boundaries of its committed capex envelope, and that it will launch commercial service from early Q2 2024.
On Monday, SES said that it has rolled out and tested more than 160 O3b mPOWER terminals on the existing O3b constellation this year.
In late October, Reliance Jio demonstrated its planned satellite broadband service JioSpaceFiber, which will use the O3b mPOWER constellation. SES has also signed mPOWER deals with operators in Ecuador and Africa.
