On Wednesday 24 September, 2025, Luxembourg Minister of Defence, Yuriko Backes, presented to the Defence Committee of the Chamber of Deputies the draft law authorising the government to finance the acquisition, launch and operation of the GovSat-2 satellite, intended for governmental and military communications, as well as to acquire satellite capabilities.
According to the Ministry of Defence, the GovSat-2 project builds on the GovSat-1 programme, the first satellite dedicated to governmental and defence communications, launched in 2018 by LuxGovSat SA (LGS) - a public-private partnership and joint venture equally owned by the Luxembourg government and SES Astra SA. The upcoming GovSat-2 satellite will join GovSat-1 in geostationary orbit, covering the same regions of interest - Europe, Africa and the Middle East - while offering enhanced capabilities accessible to Luxembourg, its partners and allies. The programme’s financing foresees a capital increase of €101 million in LuxGovSat by the Luxembourg Ministry of Defence, with an equivalent contribution from SES.
“GovSat-2 fully aligns with the government’s ambition to invest in strategic defence projects with significant economic benefits. It will strengthen Luxembourg’s visibility and credibility in the defence and security space sector,” stated Minister Backes.
The ministry noted that the Directorate of Defence will remain the “anchor customer” of LGS, with a firm commitment to satellite communication capacities amounting to €180 million over the twelve years following the operational launch of GovSat-2. Up to €20 million over two years is allocated in the draft law to maintain GovSat-1 capacities until the new satellite becomes operational. In addition, a budget of €200 million is earmarked to facilitate international cooperation and ensure project flexibility and resilience in the face of unpredictable geopolitical and technological developments.
According to the ministry, the space domain is essential to NATO’s collective deterrence and defence framework and constitutes a strategic priority within the European Union. In a rapidly evolving geopolitical context, the ability to maintain secure and reliable communications is crucial. Furthermore, the armed forces’ satellite communications needs are expected to grow significantly in the coming years, both in quantity and quality of service. The launch of a second communications satellite is therefore seen as essential and also deemed necessary in terms of resilience.
The GovSat-2 project will take into account current requirements, technological evolution, and, above all, the increasingly threat-prone space environment. The satellite will be protected to ensure service availability in hostile environments and will incorporate advanced technologies, including SHF (super high frequency) capabilities, covering the military X and Mil-Ka frequency bands, supplemented by tactical UHF (ultra-high frequency) capability.
While satellites play a crucial role in military communications, navigation, operational command and the transmission of strategic data, they have, according to the ministry, become priority targets in destabilisation strategies or asymmetric confrontations. The ministry stated GovSat-2 represented a strategic response to these developments and will provide a sovereign, protected and higher-performance capability, integrating hardening technologies, encryption, flexible bandwidth and advanced anti-jamming systems.
