Multi-orbit operators push back on Starlink satcoms dominance narrative

WASHINGTON — While Starlink’s broadband contract wins often grab the spotlight, a panel of multi-orbit operators at the Satellite Conference here highlighted how they are also gaining significant traction with enterprise and government customers.

“I still struggle with the fact that there is a narrative in the market that every time Starlink wins a deal, it’s amplified,” SES CEO Adel Al-Saleh said March 11 during the Satellite Conference here.

“The narrative is just wrong, and it’s not Starlink’s fault,” Al-Saleh said, “they’re doing a great job — I think it’s just the market … whether it’s the capital market or the media, etc.”

Al-Saleh said “we’re all winning our fair share of big deals” amid strong demand for connectivity worldwide.

He pointed to a recently activated program that provides broadband capacity from SES’s O3b mPower medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellites for Luxembourg and NATO allies as an example of the broader industry’s success.

According to Al-Saleh, a deal to connect farming equipment in Brazil announced last year between CNH and Intelsat, a satellite operator SES is buying, is also comparable with the John Deere partnership Starlink struck in the country and the United States.

Multi-orbit progress

Although Starlink’s low Earth orbit network has been securing major aviation contracts, Intelsat CEO David Wajsgras said its hybrid LEO and geostationary orbit service is also gaining traction, hinting that the company is close to announcing deals with two additional international airlines.

“We are seeing more and more RFPs [requests for proposals] come out with a requirement for multi orbital capabilities in a few different verticals,” Wajsgras said on the panel.

Eutelsat CEO Eva Berneke, whose company operates both LEO and GEO satellites, said multi-orbit capabilities are resonating with customers across various industries for different reasons.

“In some sectors, it’s because of resilience, because you always want to have a network to back up if you have issues of coverage,” she said. “In other areas, because that’s a better way to cover capacity spikes.”

However, Berneke predicted that LEO services will account for 75-80% of the satellite connectivity market in six to seven years as multiple constellations are set to come online.

“That actually still allows growth in GEO,” she added. “It’s not big, but it’s still growth in the GEO connectivity market.”

Al-Saleh emphasized how GEO remains crucial for video distribution, which is an important business for legacy operators even as satellite TV declines amid the shift to online streaming.

“So yes, we believe that there is future in GEO,” he added. “It will evolve, but it’s going to be there for the foreseeable future.”

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