GovSat-1; Credit: Orbital ATK

HRH the Hereditary Grand Duke and HRH the Hereditary Grand Duchess, accompanied by the Prime Minister, Minister of State and Minister of Communications and Media, Xavier Bettel, and the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of the Economy and Minister of Defense, Étienne Schneider, will travel to the United States to witness the launch of the GovSat-1 satellite from the Cape Canaveral launch pad in Florida.

Knowing that postponement or cancellation is still possible, the launch of the satellite aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled for Tuesday 30 January 2018. The firing window opens at 22:23 (Luxembourg time) for an approximate duration of two hours. The launch is to be transmitted live on www.spacex.com

The satellite will be operated by GovSat, a public-private joint venture created in 2015 between the Luxembourg State and SES, the world's leading satellite operator with headquarters in Betzdorf. GovSat's mission is to provide secure and reliable satellite communication capabilities for both military and civilian purposes to meet growing demand in the institutional and defense fields. While part of the capacity of the GovSat-1 satellite will be used to meet Luxembourg's requirements for military-frequency satellite communications, it is planned to resell GovSat-1's additional communication capabilities to allied and partner countries as well as to international organisations (notably NATO and the EU).

The project enables Luxembourg to fulfill its defense contribution obligations, while creating ancillary and, to the fullest extent possible, economic value and jobs. The project is also part of the efforts to modernise Luxembourg's defense by promoting the development of specific skills in the satellite field based on know-how already well established in Luxembourg in the space sector.​