NorthStar Officially Opens Luxembourg HQ, Plans to Hire More Local Talent

On the evening of Thursday 8 September 2023, NorthStar Earth & Space kicked off its inaugural activities in Europe with the official opening of its European headquarters in Luxembourg; the kick-off event took place at the Sofitel Hotel in the North Bonnevoie-Verlorenkost district of Luxembourg City.

The official launch came four years after the news of the arrival of the Canadian space company's European headquarters in Luxembourg was announced. Speaking to the Luxembourg press about what may seem like a lengthy process, NorthStar founder and CEO Stewart Bain recalled that the COVID-19 pandemic had emerged shortly after the initial announcement in 2019, making it "difficult to get things off the ground". He added that the team had then dedicated time to "carefully defin[ing] the scope of our work and projects in Luxembourg" and adapting the technology and solutions to the potential market. There were also the usual administrative formalities which had to be respected during this process.

In addition to CEO Stewart Bain, the company's COO David Saint-Germain, chief scientist Frédéric Pelletier and the chairman of its board of directors and largest shareholder, Charles Sirois, among others, had come over to Luxembourg for the kick-off event, also using this opportunity to speak to local journalists at the preceding press conference.

The kick-off event was an opportunity to present NorthStar's future activities in Luxembourg. As COO David Saint-Germain explained, the company plans to increase its current eight-strong team in Luxembourg to fifteen full-time employees by April 2024 (then potentially to 20 the following year). In response to a question from Chronicle.lu, David Saint-Germain confirmed that the plan was to continue to hire mainly local talent, although some specialists may be brought over from neighbouring countries.

Commenting on the decision to expand to Europe, and the official launch of the European headquarters in Luxembourg, Charles Sirois noted that there had been the will at NorthStar to "create a global enterprise" right from the start. He added that Europe was "an extremely important" region in which to develop a real head office (at the administrative but also operational and sales and marketing levels).

To support its growth plans and in turn accelerate commercial analytics products for advanced space situational awareness (SSA) services, NorthSpace can count on new funding. The company announced on Thursday that it had signed a commercial product development contract funded by the Luxembourg Government through an agreement with the European Space Agency (ESA) via the LuxIMPULSE space sector support programme. LuxIMPULSE is managed by the Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA) in conjunction with the ESA to support companies established in the Grand Duchy as they bring innovative ideas to market. The amount of funding has not been disclosed but it follows investments such as €10 million made by the Luxembourg Future Fund in 2021.

The LuxIMPULSE funding is set to help NorthStar develop cutting-edge tools and applications for space traffic mapping, close approach warning and global space hazard risk assessment vital for fleet management, future mission planning and insurance considerations. The objective, according to the company, is to advance development rapidly in order to address the growing need for improved observation, up-to-date knowledge and precise navigation tools, which are needed to safeguard assets in an increasingly congested space environment.

"NorthStar is grateful and privileged to receive this important strategic support from LuxIMPULSE to accelerate the development of our next-generation solutions for space situational awareness with a focus right here in Luxembourg," said Stewart Bain.

Commenting on this news, Luxembourg's Minister of the Economy, Franz Fayot, stated: "By supporting the innovative activities of NorthStar, we both continue to develop our national space expertise and to promote on a global scale a responsible approach to activities in space."

NorthStar noted that the proliferation of space debris and other threats to space assets represent a serious danger to the safety and sustainability of space flight, the growing space economy and vital services for critical communications, precise navigation, earth monitoring and protection, as well as defence. The company assured that its "unique, high-fidelity" space-based SSA services will counter this threat by providing "unparalleled coverage" across all orbits with "unprecedented speed and accuracy", allowing operators to safely manage and preserve their assets. Luxembourg's "vibrant" space ecosystem is believed to offer the "ideal innovative environment, talent and expertise to develop this groundbreaking technology further". NorthStar noted that it is already collaborating closely with Luxembourg-based SES and Spire Global and will continue to work with other members of the Luxembourg space community to strengthen the country's leading position in space security and sustainability.

Following an ongoing Series D financing round (set to close by the end of September), NorthStar plans to launch an initial constellation of 24 satellites to obtain images from space. The first four satellites are expected to launch this autumn, after which the company should be able to start generating its own revenue to finance future launches.