Summary
- SES reported H1 2026 results and reiterated its full year outlook.
- The Luxembourg company highlighted IRIS² negotiations, O3b mPOWER launches, and secure government and defence communications.
- Satellite connectivity is becoming part of Europe’s wider resilience, sovereignty, and critical communications infrastructure.
SES has reiterated its 2026 outlook while keeping Europe’s sovereign space infrastructure agenda in view, as the Luxembourg satellite operator reported first half results shaped by mobility, government, defence, and secure communications demand.
The company reported H1 2026 revenue of €1.6bn and adjusted EBITDA of €725m on a reported basis, reflecting the consolidation of Intelsat from July 2025. Networks revenue was supported by mobility and government and defence, while media performed in line with expectations. SES also signed €1.2bn of new business and contract renewals in the first half, contributing to a €6.4bn backlog.
The infrastructure update is the more strategic thread. SES said O3b mPOWER satellites 11, 12, and 13 are expected to launch in Q3 2026, boosting network capacity and resilience. It also said negotiations on IRIS² Rendez-vous 1 are in their final stages.
IRIS² is the European Union’s planned sovereign satellite connectivity constellation, intended to provide secure, resilient communications for government and commercial users. SES described the programme as strategically important and a cornerstone of Europe’s future secure and sovereign space infrastructure. It also linked the programme to meoSphere, its next generation medium Earth orbit network targeted for operation by 2030.
Satellite connectivity has moved from specialist telecoms territory into wider policy debate. Secure communications are increasingly tied to defence readiness, maritime and aviation connectivity, emergency response, rural coverage, public safety, and resilience when terrestrial networks are disrupted. Europe’s interest in sovereign space infrastructure has been sharpened by reliance on non-European systems and by the geopolitical role satellite connectivity has played in recent conflicts.
The commercial relevance is not limited to defence contractors or satellite operators. Connectivity resilience affects logistics, airlines, shipping, energy assets, financial networks, remote industrial sites, and public services. As organisations digitise operations outside office and datacentre environments, secure connectivity across borders, oceans, and remote regions becomes part of operational continuity rather than an optional communications layer.
SES’s government and defence momentum sits in that context. Demand for secure, resilient, and mission critical communications is drawing commercial satellite operators more deeply into public sector infrastructure, even where programmes are framed around sovereign capability. The boundary between public interest infrastructure and commercial connectivity is becoming less tidy.
The European industrial question remains difficult. Sovereignty does not mean isolation from global suppliers, but it does require enough domestic capability to design, build, operate, and govern critical systems. IRIS² will test whether Europe can organise public funding, private operators, space manufacturers, regulatory oversight, and long term service commitments into a credible infrastructure platform.
SES’s future is shaped by that transition. The company has legacy media revenue, growing mobility demand, government communications exposure, and a broader strategic transformation after its Intelsat acquisition. Its next phase depends on whether it can convert multi orbit capability into higher value services while maintaining financial control through expensive satellite deployment cycles.
Europe’s digital infrastructure does not end at fibre, cloud regions, mobile networks, and datacentres. Space based connectivity is moving into the same resilience and sovereignty conversation, and SES’s progress on IRIS² and meoSphere will help define how credible that ambition becomes.
