One year into his tenure as chief executive of SES, Adel Al-Saleh is steering one of the world’s largest satellite operators through yet another high-stakes transformation.
His company is under pressure to counter declining geostationary orbit (GEO) satellite TV revenues and defend broadband growth against fierce competition from SpaceX’s Starlink in low Earth orbit (LEO) all while positioning for a surge in European sovereign space investments.
At 40 years old, SES may be a legacy operator, but in a market upended by Starlink, it’s once again looking to disrupt the state of play.
The Luxembourg-based operator pioneered multi-orbit services more than a decade ago with a hybrid fleet of GEO and medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellites. Now, under Al-Saleh’s leadership, SES is doubling down with a $3.1 billion bid to acquire Intelsat, a GEO operator partnered with Eutelsat’s OneWeb LEO constellation.
While awaiting regulatory clearance to snatch up Intelsat, SES is pressing ahead with its next-generation O3b mPower constellation in MEO, aiming to secure its foothold in enterprise and government markets where Starlink is making aggressive inroads.
For Al-Saleh — an IT veteran new to the space industry — it has been a baptism by fire. But he insists SES must move even faster, seeking ways to accelerate satellite development cycles to stay competitive in an increasingly dynamic market.
The company also recently announced its entry into the fledgling direct-to-device (D2D) satellite market with an investment in Lynk Global, which is developing a LEO constellation enabling telcos to connect unmodified phones beyond the reach of cell towers. Al-Saleh sees an opportunity to use MEO satellites as traffic relays, giving SES a potential edge over Starlink’s own D2D ambitions.
Meanwhile, SES is playing a leading role alongside France’s Eutelsat in developing IRIS², the European Union’s $10 billion-plus multi-orbit network aimed at strengthening secure and sovereign connectivity.
In the following Q&A, Al-Saleh tells SpaceNews‘ Jason Rainbow how SES is positioning itself to stay ahead as a massive 800 billion euro ($871 billion) ReArm Europe Plan/Readiness 2030 plan — driven by geopolitical tensions and military modernization needs — also looks set to reshape the continent’s space industry.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
SpaceNews: What drove SES to invest in Lynk Global?
Al-Saleh: This is more than an investment of funds. We identified a strategic use case for using our MEO constellation to relay traffic from LEO satellites, particularly small LEO constellations. Currently SpaceX only has 400 direct-to-device satellites and AST SpaceMobile will have 100, which is insufficient to move traffic freely across the globe. A backbone network is essential to facilitate traffic up and bring it back down to Earth in different locations.
When I joined SES last year, we began exploring this capability and testing it with different D2D players to see who would gain traction in the market.
Several of these D2D players expressed interest in using our MEO network and ground infrastructure to improve their resilience, coverage, and speed of deployment; we chose Lynk because we like their architecture and technology.
Additionally, we also know their CEO Ramu Potarazu well, as he recently stepped down from SES’ board. We believe this partnership has the potential to create something truly exciting.
Intelsat has its own plans for MEO. What could they bring to SES post-merger?
During our discussions with Intelsat, it was encouraging to see a convergence of thinking that MEO makes economic sense, as opposed to spending billions to build another LEO constellation. Both companies believe in delivering multi-orbit services across GEO, MEO and LEO through partnerships.
How is SES supporting Europe’s push for sovereign space capabilities amid geopolitical uncertainties, such as the conflict in Ukraine and questions over external military support?
Given our fleet and capabilities, SES provides services in Ukraine today, although we don’t openly talk about it. There is undoubtedly a surge in demand as people are concerned about the geopolitical dynamics, and rumors that Starlink may discontinue their coverage over Ukraine
Globally, there’s a growing awareness that one should not rely on a single provider, network or orbit. This has long been SES’ stance.
As European governments and others become more aware, it’s evident that multiple options are needed, whether it’s Starlink or SES. The world needs a more resilient and redundant architecture.
While there is a short-term surge in demand for more redundancy and alternatives, what’s more important is that Europeans are recognizing the importance of IRIS² and are eager to do more and quicker.
Space is going to be a big part of the spending coming from Germany and others. You could ask, why not just build more tanks and airplanes? The answer lies in the critical role of communications within the overall military architecture.
Secure and reliable communicating between different entities and between missions is key. Even the best tanks and airplanes are ineffective if they cannot securely communicate with central command and personnel in the field.
Similarly, if drones cannot be securely maneuvered, it too is ineffective and poses a problem.
Secure communications infrastructure is going to be leading the way in all these investments. We’re excited because we are seeing NATO and other governments asking us to support them, and we are well-positioned to do so.
How much of the ReArm Europe plan will benefit space, and how are you supporting this expansion?
While the exact allocation of the ReArm Europe plan is still unknown, one of its foundational capabilities is secure communications, which is a key service we provide.
Looking at the U.S. as an example, the Space Force has built a robust architecture for satellite communications that I think many nations are likely to follow.
First, they have emphasized the need for multi-orbit architecture.
Second, they’re creating a hybrid space architecture where traffic can move seamlessly when needed.
A significant aspect of this approach is the integration of commercial capabilities with military operations, which is essential for scalability. Even the U.S., which spends more on defense than anyone else, has identified the need to integrate secure, hybrid multi-orbit communications across military-dedicated satellites and commercial satellites.
Governments will refine and evolve that blueprint, but the fundamentals of it will remain the same.
SES is well-positioned to contribute as it operates satellites in multiple orbits and has the ability to orchestrate traffic between them. We have experience in doing it, and the capability to scale and grow. This is evident in our networks business where we’re building our second-generation MEO constellation, with five more O3b mPower satellites still to be launched.
And here I am talking about what comes after O3b mPower.
O3b mPower just went into service in April 2024. We will increase the capacity of O3b mPower by 30% when the 7th and 8th O3b mPower satellites go into service, then another increment at the beginning of next year, followed by another step increase in capacity in 1st half of 2027. By then, the system will look dramatically different than what it is today, from a capacity, speed and coverage point of view.
In parallel, we’re working on IRIS². As part of this initiative which we are leading, we are also responsible for 18 MEO satellites which sets the foundation for the next generation MEO network.
We will not stop at IRIS². We will continue to add capabilities every year to strengthen and create an even more robust MEO network that is connected to our GEO capabilities and LEO partnership.
This sets us apart from some of our other competitors who can only offer a single orbit and lack the hybrid architecture and software capabilities we provide.
While governments are an important customer and partner for space, for SES, Luxembourg is also a major shareholder. An activist shareholder has proposed curbing state control to help navigate industry challenges. What do you say to them?
Luxembourg has been with SES since its inception. We have a lot to thank the government for doing what they’ve done — both during the formative early years of the company and through challenging periods when we faced difficulties.
The Luxembourg government is very supportive of our strategy and acts as an enabler to what we’re trying to do. As CEO, I’m open with all shareholders about the benefits we receive from the Luxembourg government, rather than seeing them as obstacles.
As an example, when there is a surge of demand coming for Ukraine, the vehicle for SES to fulfil that demand is either through our NATO contract or Luxembourg government contracts, enabling us to serve NATO and other nations. That’s a benefit that we have, versus companies who have to create a new contract and negotiate. It’s government-to-government contracts that we provide.
We also launched a transformation program across SES to make the company more efficient and agile, impacting more than 10% of our work force in Luxembourg. While this is a challenging topic for any government, Luxembourg remains supportive as they see the competitive nature of the market and the need for efficiency. That’s just a very recent example of how things could have been made more difficult to execute without their support.
Having said that, we listen to all our shareholders, and some have also been with us for a very long time. We’re taking our shareholders’ recommendations and proposals very seriously.
Amazon is itching to join the fray as Starlink is already shaking up the state of play. How is SES adapting its strategy to grow and innovate amid such heavy competition?
SES has been around for 40 years, and we are evolving as a company, transforming our approach to innovation, research, R&D and customer engagement. Our first steps are to digitize our operations, particularly through the use of software, AI and big data.
While we having been implementing these in pockets and pieces over the last few years, we want to now expand their use on a much larger scale to enhance efficiency across the company. Our decision to reduce headcount is not due to a lack of cash flow but rather a strategic move to increase efficiency and speed. By cutting 20% of our middle management layers. we are creating a flatter organization that’s a lot closer to the employees, therefore accelerating decision-making.
We’re also driving a different approach to innovation with our partners and looking at how to iterate future features and functions. We are looking at ways to accelerate our innovation, continuously improve our network and solutions we provide to our customers. The reason we’re tying up with Lynk is because this is a partnership of co-development.
We’re going to integrate our networks with their networks. They’re a newspace company and not an established player who’s been around for a long time. We believe we will benefit by working with a more agile company, and they will benefit from the scale we bring to the table.
Are more partnerships how you accelerate development timelines in space?
We are accelerating development timelines in space through a combination of partnerships and our own initiatives.
Traditionally, the industry starts with a blank sheet of paper when procuring and developing satellites, whether they are military satellites or commercial GEO or MEO satellites. This process involves putting all the specifications together and taking time to develop and translate them into the final design, similar to how car manufacturers introduce new models with new bodies, engines, and chassis, which can take up to five years.
However, the world is changing too fast for this approach. Our innovation strategy needs to become more iterative.
We need to constantly bring new features and launch new satellites every year. These satellites will be backward and forward compatible through software, allowing for more flexibility. Instead of developing isolated platforms, we are creating platforms that will enable us to build a continuous network.
We believe this big shift in development and innovation will significantly increase our speed, enabling us to accelerate development timelines in space.
The platforms will need to be more flexible, rather than an island that we’ve been developing. There’s going to be a continuous network.
That’s a big shift in how we develop and how we innovate, and that will increase the speed.
This article first appeared in the April 2025 issue of SpaceNews Magazine with the title “Forcing a new SES.”
