SES Space & Defense Launch Demo Payload Supporting NASA Communications Services Plan

RESTON, Va., October 20, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SES Space & Defense (SES SD), a wholly owned subsidiary of SES, has successfully launched a demonstration payload aboard Planet Labs PBC's (Planet) Pelican-12™ satellite, in support of NASA's Communications Services Project (CSP). The launch took place today, October 20, 2026, at 7:04 a.m. ET aboard the Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission with SpaceX from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. NASA announced it will gradually sunset its Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) fleet and acquire commercial space relay services for future science missions in low Earth orbit (LEO). In 2022, NASA's Space Communications and Navigation division awarded $278.