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Luxembourg's Directorate of Defence has confirmed that, on Wednesday 15 February 2023, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, François Bausch, signed a letter of intent concerning the Allied Persistent Surveillance from Space (APSS). 

In December 2022, Luxembourg contributed to this project initiated by NATO to the tune of €16.5 million, in order to allow the development of this capacity which will allow improving the knowledge of the situation on earth, particularly during conflicts.

The war of Russian aggression in Ukraine has highlighted the importance of the spatial domain and its ability to know the situation of the different theatres of operations, be it on the ground, in the sea or in the air. These capabilities are essential for the conduct of operations, missions and activities of the Alliance. The new Allied capacity for permanent surveillance from space, whose letter of intent has been signed by a total of 18 Allies, is the largest multinational space project in the history of NATO.

The objective of the APSS is to establish a virtual constellation composed of national and commercial space facilities in order to improve knowledge and understanding of the situation on earth. The cooperation between the 18 signatory Allies will not only allow to share the burdens and use the resources in a more efficient manner, but it will at the same time strengthen the capacity of the Alliance to obtain the means of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR).

The APSS is a crucial step for the development of NATO's space domain. This will allow it to engage more closely with the commercial space sector which develops state-of-the-art technologies, etc., for ISR.

Through the signing of this letter of intent, the Directorate of Defence once again confirms its willingness to invest in this area of very high importance, notably by making available the resources of LUXEOSys for the benefit of NATO. "Luxembourg's contribution of €16.5 million will facilitate the development of this new multinational capacity. The sharing and mutualization of our resources, this amounts to being more efficient and more efficient in the field of surveillance", concluded Minister Bausch.