SES sees an opportunity to bring the promise of “really consistent IFC all around the world” with its open-architecture Ka-band platform, SES Open Orbits, the company’s global head of aviation Andrew Ruszkowski told Runway Girl Network after we expressed frustration about some of the difficulties that we and other passengers still experience when trying to connect in-flight.
Announced in May, SES Open Orbits combines the geostationary (GEO) and medium earth orbit (MEO) networks of SES; plus service from NEO Space Group (NSG), a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF); China Satcom subsidiary AeroSat Link (ASL); and Hughes Communications India (HCI), a JV between Hughes and Bharti Airtel Limited.
But the group is poised for expansion, as new satellite operators are added to the mix including potentially those gearing up to operate Ka-band Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites. Please enjoy our one-on-one interview with Ruszkowski.
RGN: Obviously, there’s a lot of excitement right now about the prospect of Telesat Lightspeed. And I think there’s a fair number of assumptions that it would make sense for Telesat to be part of SES Open Orbits. Are you able to speak on whether you’re in talks with Telesat [to have] that as a possibility, particularly given the fact that they’re coming on, under MOU right now, as a LEO satellite network operator on the Airbus HBCplus program?
Ruszkowski: We are very happy to see the announcement about Lightspeed being made a partner around the HBCplus program. It does align with certainly Airbus’ approach of being open architecture, offering customers options and flexibility and that absolutely also aligns with the SES Open Orbits approach. We are building SES Open Orbits around the principle of partnership. That’s partnership in all of the components that make up SES Open Orbits, from aircraft manufacturers like Airbus and Boeing, hardware providers, IFC system integrators like NSG [Neo Space Group] and others, and surely also around satellite operators.
And our approach to that is focused on two points. We are multi-orbit and we believe all orbits have a role to play. We’re coming to market as GEO/MEO. There’s nothing that says LEO could not be offered in the future. Also our approach to satellite network operators is to partner with regional and sovereign network operators who allow SES Open Orbits to be available consistently around the world. And we’re very happy that we are able to offer service in parts of the world where others are not. So for example, we have our partnerships within China and that’s going to be a big differentiator for SES Open Orbits. So with regards to Telesat, yes, we’re happy to see them part of HBCplus. And regarding LEO, generally speaking, there’s nothing that says we could not offer LEO as part of the future.
RGN: You are coming to market obviously with MEO/GEO inclusive of mPOWER. So effectively, it sounds like LEO would fall into the maybe ‘nice to have’ camp, but not the ‘necessary’ camp. Is that fair?
Ruszkowski: I don’t think about it in those ways. First of all, importantly, we have seen a very good reaction in the market to our initial offering of MEO/GEO. It is multi-layered, meaning resilient. It offers a consistent service around the globe. And if in the future we need to offer LEO because we need something that LEO offers, we have the opportunity to to add it. What would drive that? You know, and this is the case at all orbits and all frequencies, it is the ability to scale and offer optionality and scaling really can happen by adding orbits, but it can also [happen] by adding more volume at the current orbits. So you know, I know it’s not always the best, most satisfying answer, but we’re really about building a network that is scalable and can evolve over time. And I guarantee you it is going to evolve over time in all those categories.
RGN: Do you see any potential opportunity to ultimately include Viasat in SES Open Orbits? You guys are partners (somewhat quietly up and until a recent FCC filing). But SES is playing kind of a material role right now in the Viasat service over the Americas. It seems like a natural fit. Can you speak on that at all?
Ruszkowski: So, I can confirm that Viasat is a customer of SES in different verticals, but I’m going to go back to the same point I just made around Telesat. Today, SES Open Orbits is built around two waveforms, the Gilat and the [Hughes] Jupiter waveforms. And for now, that certainly offers the customers that we’re speaking with the optionality that we’re looking for or what they’re looking for. Just like we could offer in the future other orbits or other frequencies, we can offer other waveforms. It’s really about listening to the customers and making sure that we’re meeting their needs. So I wouldn’t take it off the table, but we’re not seeing the need to go to market right now with that waveform.
RGN: Obviously, SES Open Orbits is a fully interoperable Ka-band platform. But is there any interest on the part of SES down the road in time to also offer a Ku-band platform in a similar sort of format/paradigm following the acquisition of Intelsat? And then maybe even much further down the road, a potential hybrid Ku/Ka platform, kind of tapping into again that capability that you’re going to acquire through the Intelsat buy.
Ruszkowski: So, naturally, I cannot comment on the acquisition. It’s an ongoing transaction, and so we’ll have to leave that aside. I am going to focus on what you’re digging at there around the multi-frequency question. So, the principle of multi-frequency is certainly attractive to everybody and it can come in a variety of forms. It can come in network operators that can offer multiple frequencies and address the largest share of the market. SES actually is in that position right now. Most of our wholesale business, which is still something we’re very much committed to with ASPs or aero service providers is basically built around the Ku-band environment. SES Open Orbits, as you recognize, is a Ka-band play. But because again, we’re open architecture, we look forward to perhaps expanding SES Open Orbits into other frequencies. Ultimately, the Holy Grail of the answer to this question is a terminal that’s capable of operating in both bands. I think everybody recognizes that. SES certainly embraces that, but we are definitely a few years away from that being reality.
RGN: SES has said it is using the OEMs’ open architecture offerings to support IFC. Of course, the ThinKom Ka2517 VICTS-based SPI terminal is front and center right now given the Airbus and Boeing linefit programs, including obviously what we’ve just discussed, Airbus supplier-furnished HBCplus. When we consider the sort of experience that passengers can expect, should we be looking at the Thales implementation of FlytLIVE at Spirit — which is of course powered by SES-17 — as an indicator, given that it is using a KA2517-based terminal, obviously Thales’ own version, but a very similar terminal.
Ruszkowski: Are you saying like from a performance perspective?
RGN: Yeah. So, Spirit has enjoyed some nice talkability for that broadband connectivity. I’ve used it when I’ve flown Spirit and it’s worked well and it has even won some awards. So when we’re talking SES Open Orbits, we’re talking effectively high-capacity Ka, obviously also a hybrid MEO/GEO approach. I’m curious if the passenger experience is one that can be likened to what we’re seeing over SES-17 with FlytLIVE or if we shouldn’t even make those kinds of comparisons?
Ruszkowski: First of all, we’re delighted with our partnership and our service delivery for Thales on SES-17 and being delivered to Spirit and to other airlines. We’re taking a slightly different approach beginning with the multi-orbit capabilities of SES Open Orbits as compared to SES-17 standalone. In terms of the performance, I’m happy that you like what you were getting on SES-17. I think you’re going to be similarly satisfied if not delighted with what you experience when your aircraft is connected to the SES Open Orbits platform. If what you’re thinking about there is about what kind of service packages we deliver to the airline, certainly the similarities will be that we are guaranteeing Thales throughput; we have CIRs. And that is a principle that we’re going to continue on with in SES Open Orbits. I think that’s an important differentiator from some other network providers who are providing service today. That allows us to make a commitment to a consistent service level even when an airline or the aircraft itself is flying through congested areas, whether that be congestion from other aircraft or from fixed networks. When we commit to delivering service, it’s going to be consistent everywhere. And we back that up with SLAs
You know, one of the nice things about SES-17 it that it was built to be flexible to bring capacity and throughput or to move that capacity around to meet demand. As you know, weather patterns change as all sorts of things occur. And the experience that we gained there with SES-17, we’re going to bring that into SES Open Orbits. We are bringing that into SES Open Orbits. And that was in large part the mentality that we thought when we started to build SES Open Orbits, the flexible use of resources all again to support that commitment that we’re making, throughput to the aircraft, which allows the passengers to have a consistent experience wherever they there you go.
RGN: That’s interesting. The Thai Airways and Turkish Airlines HBCplus announcements which were made at the APEX Global Expo in Long Beach are obviously really nice deals to have. And of course, SES also has won an undisclosed single-aisle operator under HBCplus, according to Airbus. But for the uninitiated, and when I say that, I usually mean the kind of folks who are interested in this sort of technical coverage of the market, but who might not be looking at it as closely as maybe the experts do. So can you share some color around what SES brings to the table as a managed service provider (MSP) offering MEO/GEO multi-orbit, quite specifically. Because you’re working with and allowing other companies like the Neo Space Group to be the aero ISP, it would be helpful to understand what your role is versus say what their role is in that type of implementation.
Ruszkowski: First of all, thanks for recognizing our announcements and our success. We’re feeling really good about things. We’re also feeling good about being the first HBCplus Ka-band MSP providing a global offering, a global network. We are actually going to be going live with the network next month with GEO/MEO service and besides Thai and Turkish, we expect to be making some big announcements coming up. I can’t get into them today for contractual reasons, but I hope that very shortly we’ll be able to make some new announcements, which I think will catch people’s attention.
So, if your question is ‘what role do we really play in all of this’, I’ll go back to a little bit of what I said earlier. SES will deliver a reliable, high-performing global network that supports a consistent passenger experience no matter where the aircraft flies. That sounds simple, but to the point that you started our conversation with, you travel a lot and you haven’t seen the promise of IFC consistently delivered around the world. That’s a big part of what we’re trying to do. And to do that and to differentiate for ourselves, we are offering meaningful and SLA-supported committed information rates. Others aren’t doing that. We partner with the CSPs, the connectivity service providers like NSG, they’re a great partner for us for sure. And we partner with the aircraft manufacturers and others to bring this whole network together. SES, I like to think of it as the glue that makes it all work together and makes it work in a way that really is differentiated for the airlines. And I think that’s why you’re seeing the success that we have, we’re having, and that success is going to continue and I think accelerate.
RGN: Just to back you up, because you mentioned that you are the first HBCplus Ka-band MSP providing a global network. You don’t see the Viasat Global Xpress network, which is soon going to be augmented with HEO service, as global in that HBCplus cadre of MSPs?
Ruszkowski: Well, we can debate that, but I can tell you that I think we are going to be the first multi-orbit provider in Ka-band… Similarly, I don’t want to argue about frequencies, I don’t want to argue about that. Look, we’re excited to be in HBCplus as well as available through other channels to the market, both linefit and retrofit. So we’re taking a very broad and aggressive approach to the market and trying to meet the airlines where they are because we hear from the airlines all sorts of opinions about what model works best for them, both how they configure their aircraft, how they acquire their service; and what kind of service that they need. And yes, we’re trying to meet them where they are… We are building around reliable standards even as we offer options and that is something that SES does very well and that we are bringing into our aviation strategy.
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Featured image credited to istock.com/DoraDalton
