SpaceX completes SES's 13-satellite O3b mPOWER constellation
SpaceX launched SES's final three O3b mPOWER satellites, completing the constellation on the Falcon family's 700th flight.
updates
- 2026-09-15The new satellites are expected to enter service by mid-2027 after orbit raising, testing and commissioning, per TechNode Global.
- 2026-09-14The Boeing-built trio, launched on booster B1080's 29th flight, brings the O3b mPOWER medium-Earth-orbit constellation to its full complement of 13 satellites.
what happened
A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched SES's final three O3b mPOWER satellites, F11, F12, and F13, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 2:49 p.m. Eastern on September 13, per Florida Today and Teslarati. The Boeing-built trio, launched on booster B1080's 29th flight, brings the O3b mPOWER medium-Earth-orbit constellation to its full complement of 13 satellites. The launch was also the 700th mission to date for SpaceX's Falcon rocket family, which debuted with the Falcon 1 in March 2006, per Space.com. The new satellites are expected to enter service by mid-2027 after orbit raising, testing and commissioning, per TechNode Global.
why it matters
The completed constellation gives SES its full 13-satellite MEO capacity to sell against enterprise, government, and mobility customers such as airlines, cruise lines, and offshore energy operators, per Teslarati. Unlike Starlink's consumer LEO network, O3b mPOWER is provisioned as dedicated circuits, closing out a buildout SES has flown in stages since 2022; SES describes O3b mPOWER as the high-throughput MEO layer of a broader multi-orbit network strategy, per TechNode Global.