THE EUROPEAN – SECURITY AND DEFENCE UNION
Connecting the world through satellite Providing vital support for the delivery of critical healthcare services by Ruy Pinto, Chief Technology Officer at SES, Luxembourg
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atellites have always been known for their superpower reach and their quick-to-market deployment capabilities, but as technology evolves, the world can expect optimised network performance and heightened flexibility. 2020 has been and continues to be a year of upheaval as large parts of the world battle with Covid-19, with governments having to reassess the health situations almost on a weekly basis.
Rapid connectivity and swift reaction
services. When the world was in full lockdown in the second quarter of 2020, we were relocating beams in a matter of hours as opposed to days in order to respond to spikes in data connectivity, whenever and wherever they occurred. Thanks to our highly skilled operations team and our space technology, one of our customers in East Timor who had a short-term need for additional capacity was able to deploy additional connectivity services thanks to the reconfigured networks in less than 12 hours. Recently, we also steered an additional O3b Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) beam over the Gao region in Mali, to address an optical fibre shortage and support governments and institutions in their work when they need it most.
The increasing number of people working from home, attending school remotely, and simply being at home has put existing networks under pressure. Governments are also requesting extra capabilities to connect hospitals and medical professionals in remote locations. It has been a privilege to be part of the satellite industry where Making a difference with the MEO system we have been able to react swiftly to various requests for addiThis flexibility and agility will be further amplified in our next tional connectivity services over the last six months. generation MEO communications system, O3b mPOWER. The The nature of satellites being in space means that we have the terabit-scale and future-proof constellation is built on the advantage of being able to deploy connectivity swiftly. Flexibilsuccess of SES’s MEO system that is in space today. Its 11 sa ity has always been one of the key tenets of our industry, as it tellites are currently under construction and on track to launch allows us to respond quickly to rapidly changing needs. From in 2021. These high-throughput and low-latency satellites restoring communications networks, rolling-out e-applications, are supported by automated, reconfigurable and predictive broadcasting sports, news and education channels, satellites ground infrastructure that will deliver managed services to our have always been able to connect and reach people in places customers ranging from hundreds of Mbps to multiple Gbps. where no other technology can. The terabit-scale satellite communications system will deliver One example is the Piedmont region in Italy, one of the worst connectivity to any one location being reconfigurable in real Covid-19 hit areas in Europe, where the European Space Agentime, either for defence applications, to bridge the digital dicy’s satellite-enabled mobile laboratory B-LiFE was rolled out vide, or for connectivity on the move, such as aero or maritime for rapid Covid-19 testing of frontline use. workers. The workers who tested Our MEO systems, along with our negative could continue with their Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) sa Ruy Pinto duties, thanks to the end-to-end tellites and our constant technology has been Chief Technology satellite network for real-time data innovation, are crucial components Officer (CTO) at SES since transmission provided by SES, Luxfor making a difference to entire geo January 2019. He holds a GovSat and the Luxembourg Departgraphies and populations. No other degree in electronic enment of Defence. Another example technology has that near-instant gineering and completed was when SES enabled the Mexican flexibility and efficient reach. This post-graduate studies in Photo: Marie de Decker government to deploy a telemediis also why it makes me proud to be digital telecommunications cine network to 35 public hospitals part of the satellite industry and of systems, both from the Rio de Janeiro Catholic across the country in less than three SES where we believe in connectivity University. He joined SES in 2016 from Inmarsat weeks, providing vital support for and the transformational value of it where he covered various technical and manathe delivery of critical healthcare for people and communities. gerial roles between 1990 and 2016.
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photo: SES
