SES-17 telecommunications satellite left Thales Alenia Space’s clean rooms of Cannes on September 22nd, and has just reached Europe’s spaceport, in French Guiana. The satellite is scheduled for launch on October 22nd, where it will be orbited by Arianespace jointly with another Thales Alenia Space-built satellite: Syracuse 4A.

High speed connectivity in the air as at home

SES-17 is a high throughput geostationary communications satellite designed to enable SES customers to experience endless high-speed connectivity as well as a high degree of flexibility no matter where they operate: on land, at sea, or in the air. Its coverage zone will span North, South and Central America, the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean.

The satellite incorporates cutting-edge technologies and is set to deliver the best connectivity experience for customers operating in the aeronautical, maritime, enterprise, and government markets.

A satellite driven by a powerful digital transparent processor

Based on our Spacebus NEO electrical platform, this flexible satellite is driven by a very powerful 5th generation digital transparent processor, built by Thales Alenia Space. The digitalization actually offers the capability to adjust capacity where and when you need and also allows us to process more capacity than the previous generation by a x100 scale factor.

SES and Thales Alenia Space teamed up to optimize the new-generation payload, making the satellite even more attractive to SES’ customers in the highly competitive mobility and data markets, and for governments to accelerate their digital inclusion plans in the Americas.

Being the new flagship of the SES fleet, SES-17 will also be used to supply in-flight multimedia services through Thales’ FlytLIVE system, allowing airline passengers to enjoy endless connectivity in the air, just like at home.

Fair wind to SES’ satellite and looking forward to the launch!

Illustrations: photos © Marie-Ange Sanguy - Artistic views © Thales Alenia Space