GovSat-2 will be positioned over the European satellite arc, complementing GovSat-1 in providing critical connectivity for government customers in the region. It will be built by Thales Alenia Space, using the Spacebus 4000B2 platform.
Since its 2018 launch, GovSat-1 has supported a range of governmental entities including the Luxembourg Directorate of Defence, NATO and EU nations, and the U.S. Department of Defense. It provides services such as secure communications for operational theatres, defence and institutional site interconnection, border control, ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance), and multi-domain missions.
The new GovSat-2 satellite will expand GovSat’s service scale and coverage, addressing the highest levels of security and service assurance required by defence users. It will feature UHF channels, X- and military Ka-band, along with enhanced security capabilities such as advanced anti-jamming systems, dedicated hardening, and embedded geolocation technology.
The investment aligns with SES’s existing financial policy and combined company capital expenditure guidance. Funding will be shared between SES and the Luxembourg Government, pending approval of the relevant draft law by Parliament.
“The procurement of GovSat-2 underscores the success of the GovSat public-private partnership to provide Luxembourg, our allies and partners with secure military satellite communications that supplement their national systems and support a wide range of critical military, defence and civilian security applications,” said Yuriko Backes, Minister of Defence of Luxembourg.
“With geopolitical shifts and an increased need for scalable national security and defence capabilities, we are seeing growing demand for secure, reliable geostationary (GEO) connectivity,” said SES CEO Adel Al-Saleh. “GovSat-2 gives GovSat additional MILSATCOM capacity to address this strategic area of growth.”
“GovSat-2 reflects the growing demand in military satcom, allowing our GovSat public-private venture to scale and broaden the services we have been providing since 2018,” added Patrick Biewer, CEO of GovSat. “We are adding more frequency bands along with innovative functionalities to address future connectivity challenges faced by NATO and partner nations.”