SES ASTRA has entered into an agreement with EuroSkyPark, an operator of mobile and fixed satellite communication solutions, to offer a highly reliable, low-cost and bi-directional satellite communication service to the energy, transport, and security markets. The professional solution is based on the ASTRA2Connect-broadband product. EuroSkyPark, majority-owned by the German utility provider RWE, will resell the service to solar and wind power plants, utility providers and security operators.

With the service, these businesses are able to implement so-called SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) solutions, which are typically used to collect, monitor and control data. The offer provides a highly reliable, low-cost, and fast solution to use alternative M2M (machine-to-machine) communication platforms allowing customers to transfer their data to a large and widely dispersed community of recipients, also in remote areas with no access to a terrestrial internet infrastructure. With SES ASTRA offering consistent data delivery and stable bandwidth, satellite communication has become a real alternative for many industry sectors.

ASTRA2Connect was launched in April 2007 as a fully satellite-based broadband service enabling households and businesses in regions without terrestrial broadband connections fast and easy access to the broadband internet. The innovative infrastructure offers very stable, always-on, interactive broadband connections for flat service fees as well as telephone (VoIP) and TV services. ASTRA2Connect is now the largest European satellite broadband network for the residential market with distribution partners in 14 European countries and a total of 45,000 end users. Customers from the industrial market using the new ASTRA2Connect-based service for SCADA applications are provided with an enhanced satellite dish resistant to wind load, anti-tampering and severe environmental conditions as well as specific technical support.