Boeing delivers final O3b mPOWER trio ahead of xenon orbit raising

(SpaceEnergy) Boeing has delivered the final three O3b mPOWER satellites to SES ahead of a September launch and subsequent solar-powered xenon electric-propulsion orbit raising.

The F11, F12 and F13 spacecraft have arrived at Cape Canaveral for launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9, completing manufacturing and delivery of SES’s initial 13-satellite medium-Earth-orbit constellation. SES expects the spacecraft to enter service in mid-2027 after orbit raising and initialisation.

Boeing’s 702X-based O3b mPOWER spacecraft use xenon electric thrusters for the transfer to their approximately 8,000km operational orbit. The three newly delivered satellites will use Boeing’s patented split-thruster strategy, which balances electric-propulsion demand against available solar power and battery state.

Rather than running two thrusters continuously at the same level, Boeing’s method operates one at its highest-efficiency setting for most of an orbit while firing the second as power and timing permit. Boeing says the approach has reduced required propellant by more than 10% and has already been used on the 10 O3b mPOWER spacecraft in orbit.

The final three spacecraft will increase SES’s MEO network capacity after commissioning.