SES and the Luxembourg government will develop and launch GovSat-2, a second satellite under their public-private partnership, LuxGovSat. Announced Thursday, the new satellite aims to meet the increasing demand for secure satellite communications for government and defense users.
According to SES, GovSat-2 will join GovSat-1 in delivering reliable connectivity services and will be positioned over the European satellite arc. Built by Thales Alenia Space using its Spacebus 4000B2 platform, GovSat-2 will expand LuxGovSat’s capacity with added ultra-high frequency channels, military X and Ka bands, embedded geolocation and anti-jamming features. The project is subject to parliamentary approval and will be co-funded by SES and the Luxembourg government.
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SES CEO Adel Al-Saleh said the company is seeing growing demand for secure geostationary connectivity due to geopolitical shifts. “As governments across Europe look to bolster their sovereign satellite communications for defense and intelligence needs, GovSat-2 gives GovSat additional MILSATCOM capacity to address this strategic area of growth,” he added.
Operational since 2018, GovSat-1 has supported the Luxembourg Directorate of Defence, NATO allies, the European Union, the U.S. Department of Defense and other government agencies for military missions such as border control and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations.
The GovSat-2 announcement comes amid a series of major developments at SES.
On Tuesday, SES launched its ninth and 10th O3b mPOWER satellites aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, enhancing the global capacity of its medium Earth orbit network. Last week, the satellite operator also completed its acquisition of Intelsat, creating a combined satellite operator with a 120-strong fleet of GEO and MEO satellites.
SES is also delivering secure satellite services under a NATO contract awarded last year through the Medium Earth Orbit Global Services program. The agreement, part of a trilateral partnership between the NATO Support and Procurement Agency, the United States and Luxembourg, supports disaster response communications across air, land and sea domains.