TAMPA, Fla. — SES has canceled two satellites Intelsat ordered before being acquired by the Luxembourg-based multi-orbit operator, joining France’s Eutelsat in pulling back from geostationary orbit expansion plans drawn up just a few years ago.
The company canceled the IS-41 and IS-44 satellites ordered from Thales Alenia Space as part of Intelsat’s post-bankruptcy growth plan in 2022, the same year Eutelsat tasked the European manufacturer to build Flexsat Americas, before recently scrapping the program to curb GEO spending.
While SES did not name the two satellites it said during a May 12 earnings call were canceled as part of post-merger fleet rationalization efforts, they are now missing from the company’s list of upcoming launches.
“SES has notified the termination of the Intelsat-41/Intelsat-44 contract,” Thales Alenia Space spokesperson Tarik Lahlou said later via email.
“The two companies continue to maintain close cooperation on current contracts, such as ASTRA 1Q and SES-26 geostationary satellites, and future projects. Thales Alenia Space will not be making any further comments.”
