SES Global S.A. [SESG], the world’s largest satellite operator, acquired a 9 percent ownership stake in Orbcomm, a Dulles, Va.-based provider of global satellite data services to industrial, military and commercial clients.

SES will gain representation on the Orbcomm board of directors to provide strategic guidance and to potentially assist the data services company in further development and operation of its existing low earth orbit (LEO) satellite telecommunications network. In addition, SES will help Orbcomm to develop certain applications and services that fit with SES’s own activities.

The amount of the SES investment was not disclosed, but it was part of a $26 million total equity financing that included other investors, such as OHB Technology A.G. (OHB), a European space technology company and a part of the Fuchs-Gruppe, as well as a group of financial investors.

“Orbcomm provides SES a unique opportunity to participate in the growing market for global, satellite-based fixed and mobile data services,” said Robert Bednarek, executive vice president of corporate development at SES Global.

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