Operational since April 2024, O3b mPOWER has been successfully activated for specific missions, and has seen The Netherlands joining the MGS agreement

Following a 2024 contract award from NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), SES started providing Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) Global Services to Luxembourg and U.S. governments via its O3b mPOWER constellation.

Known as MEO Global Services (MGS), the contract awarded within NSPA’s Global Commercially Contracted SATCOM Support Partnership (GCC SATCOM SP) initiated by the US and Luxembourg, allows NATO Members and NATO Partners participating to the agreement to build sovereign networks, or utilise fully-managed low-latency, high-performance satellite communications service.

SES’s MEO connectivity is enabling government organisations, agencies and militaries at global missions on land, at sea and in the air to run real-time applications like HD video calls and uninterrupted simultaneous downloads of other data-intensive applications in the background reliably.

In the framework of MGS, the United States plan to install six MEO Sovereign Gateways in various locations across the globe, to ensure secure and resilient connectivity globally.

Furthermore, in January 2025, The Netherlands officially joined the GCC SATCOM SP, underscoring growing multinational collaboration.

Yuriko Backes, Luxembourg’s Minister of Defence: “Enhancing secure and resilient satellite communications for defence and allied operations remains a priority for Luxembourg. Through MGS and the framework of the GCC SATCOM Support Partnership, we are leveraging SES’s state of the art O3b mPOWER constellation to ensure high-performance satellite communication to support national requirements and put them to the benefit of NATO nations and our partners. We welcome our Ally the Netherlands joining this collaborative space endeavour.”

“The progress of the GCC SATCOM Support Partnership highlights the power of multinational cooperation in the space domain. By working together, participating nations gain access to secure, advanced satellite communications that enhance interoperability and operational flexibility. The addition of the Netherlands underscores the growing value of this partnership in strengthening NATO’s space capabilities,” said Stacy Cummings, NSPA General Manager.

U.S. Space Force Brig. Gen. Jacob Middleton, Commander of U.S. Space Forces Europe and Space Forces Africa: “Integrating directly with Allies and partners through joint endeavors, such as the GCC SATCOM Support Partnership, builds trust, facilitates information sharing, and fosters a deeper understanding of common strengths and challenges. Increasing space capabilities through multinational cooperation is important to the region’s deterrence and defense.”

Colonel Bernard Buijs, Head of Defence Space Security Centre, The Netherlands: “The best way to prevent a conflict is to keep communicating! To make this happen, the Netherlands firmly believes in the value of international cooperation, and through initiatives like the GCC SATCOM SP by NSPA, nations can come together to share expertise, leverage resources, and acquire unique capabilities that might be out of reach individually.”

SES’s CEO Adel Al-Saleh: “Low latency, guaranteed service level agreements, flexibility and security of communications underscore O3b mPOWER’s advantages as the capability of choice when it comes to serving the NATO nations. We are delighted to start delivering connectivity to the MGS founding countries, as well as to welcome new countries under the NSPA agreements.”

Source: BUSINESS WIRE