SES announced an agreement with LATAM Airlines to install new antennas on more than 60 Airbus and Embraer aircraft to provide in-flight connectivity (IFC) service. The service is based on a multi-orbit architecture with LEO priority and GEO backup, moving to NGSO in the future. Aaron Goldberg details the service’s features and the commercial opportunities it opens up for the airline.

-Convergencialatina: From a technical and user-experience perspective, how does SES’s network dynamically manage switching between GEO and MEO/LEO satellites during a flight, and what guarantees on latency and effective throughput will end users receive with ESA compared with the traditional 2Ku service?

-Aaron Goldberg (AG): SES’s multi-orbit ESA system considers multiple variables when deciding which satellites to use, including regulatory restrictions, typical network load and current network performance. The system dynamically evaluates quality-of-service parameters and, when certain thresholds are exceeded, may switch the active link. Performance improvements are balanced against potential service interruptions during the switch, so that the overall passenger experience is optimized.

SES’s multi-orbit ESA system provides comprehensive quality-of-experience guarantees. This goes beyond guarantees on latency or throughput, ensuring the best possible passenger experience.

-Convergencialatina: Over the past two years, we have seen an aggressive emergence of LEO constellations seeking to gain ground in aviation connectivity. Why does regional commercial aviation continue to favor a hybrid or multi-orbit model such as SES’s instead of 100% LEO networks, and what are its key competitive advantages in terms of SLAs, network resilience and dedicated capacity at congested hubs such as São Paulo or Bogotá?

-AG: Commercial aviation continues to favor hybrid and multi-orbit solutions because airlines are buying reliability and passenger experience, not just access to a specific orbit. SES’s ESA platform is an LEO-priority solution that delivers excellent latency and performance to meet passenger demands, with a backup network providing redundancy where LEO service is unavailable. While that backup is currently GEO, we are moving toward a fully non-geostationary (NGSO) solution in the coming years, leveraging SES’s O3b mPOWER capabilities as well as our future meoSphere network, which is scheduled to enter service in 2030.

From an SLA perspective, multi-orbit networks offer more options for maintaining performance as conditions change. From a resilience perspective, they reduce dependence on a single orbital layer or a single terrestrial infrastructure.

This is particularly important at high-density hubs such as São Paulo, Bogotá and Mexico City, where hundreds of connected aircraft can simultaneously compete for bandwidth. In these environments, the challenge is not just latency but ensuring sufficient capacity per aircraft. A multi-orbit architecture can distribute traffic across multiple resources, helping maintain consistent performance during periods of peak demand.

In summary, airlines continue to favor hybrid models because they provide greater SLA confidence through access to multiple network resources; greater resilience by avoiding dependence on a single constellation; and more predictable performance at congested hubs through intelligent traffic management and access to dedicated and regionalized capacity when and where it is needed.

Ultimately, the industry has moved beyond the LEO-versus-GEO debate. The value of SES’s multi-orbit strategy lies in how we combine the strengths of each orbit to deliver the most reliable and scalable passenger experience.

-Convergencialatina: Globally, the airline industry is shifting from charging for onboard Wi-Fi toward free, sponsored streaming models or freemium schemes aimed at customer loyalty. What type of business model or commercial structure is SES enabling for LATAM under this new agreement, and what usage penetration metrics per flight do you expect to reach on Latin America’s interregional routes?

-AG: One of the main reasons airlines choose SES is that we offer them the flexibility to design a service offering that supports their unique business objectives and the experience they want to provide to their customers. LATAM, like many of our other airline customers, has chosen to offer free service to its loyalty program members. By offering this benefit, LATAM has seen a significant increase in loyalty program membership, as well as higher NPS scores. Usage metrics show that LATAM passengers value this offering.

-Convergencialatina: Onboard data traffic is growing exponentially year after year. How is SES’s satellite capacity over Latin American airspace sized — particularly with the full deployment of the O3b mPOWER MEO constellation and its GEO HTS satellites — to ensure there are no bottlenecks when dozens of connected aircraft simultaneously fly over areas with high route density?

-AG: SES plans capacity based on peak traffic demand, not just coverage. By combining our partner’s LEO constellation with our GEO HTS fleet, we can leverage capacity across multiple orbits and dynamically distribute traffic throughout the network. Our multi-orbit network provides the scalability needed to support growing passenger usage and high concentrations of aircraft over Latin America, while maintaining a consistent onboard experience and avoiding capacity bottlenecks.

SES’s strategic network map will continue to incorporate additional multi-orbit satellite capacity over Latin America over the next three to five years or longer, ensuring that we continue to meet growing passenger demand for onboard Wi-Fi.

-Convergencialatina: The commercial aerospace segment is one of the most visible, but not the only one in mobility. How significant is aviation connectivity within SES’s regional business in Latin America compared with other verticals such as business aviation, maritime transport, military/government connectivity and cellular backhaul for telcos in rural areas?

-AG: Specifically in aviation, SES is the largest in-flight connectivity provider in Latin America. Commercial aviation is an important and growing part of SES’s mobility business in the region, but we continue to see strong demand for bandwidth across all mobility and enterprise segments, including maritime, government, energy, business aviation and cellular backhaul. As with commercial aviation, customers are consuming more bandwidth as user expectations increase. SES’s multi-orbit capabilities are helping deliver a significantly improved user experience, driving growth in these markets.