Luxembourg’s government is in talks with SES about hosting a military payload for NATO on one of its satellites, according to reports citing Defence Minister Etienne Schneider.
The negotiations could see a new €150m (US$202m) joint venture being…
Luxembourg’s government is in talks with SES about hosting a military payload for NATO on one of its satellites, according to reports citing Defence Minister Etienne Schneider.
The negotiations could see a new €150m (US$202m) joint venture being co-owned by the state and the satellite fleet operator, with each investing €50m (US$67m). The remaining €50m would come from a third investor or bank.
SES, which is based in Luxembourg, said it would only comment on the project once the government has made a decision.
The move comes as NATO pushes its members to increase their funding contributions as most are still failing to reach its 2% of GDP target. Luxembourg spent 0.4% of its GDP on defence in 2013.
NATO currently meets its X-band military satellite needs from a consortium of providers comprising France’s Syracuse, Italy’s SICRAL and the UK’s SkyNet.
“These services are provided on a cost reimbursable basis under a memorandum of agreement valid for 15 years which expires in 2019,” said a NATO official.
The intergovernmental military alliance declined to comment on Luxembourg’s military satellite plans.
US government kicks off hosted payload plan
Meanwhile, the US Air Force has picked 14 companies to take part in a scheme to streamline the integration of government payloads on to commercial satellites.
US-based manufacturers Lockheed Martin and Space Systems Loral are among those to be given contracts to pave the way for the five-year Hosted Payload Solutions (HoPS) initiative, as well as SES and French satellite operator Eutelsat.
The eligible companies will be able to compete for future orders worth up to a maximum combined value of US$494.9m.
Mark Valerio, vice president of Lockheed Martin’s military space line of business, said: “In these challenging budgetary times, HoPS is an innovative, cost-effective approach that will allow the Air Force to leverage commercial spacecraft to host some of its future space missions.”
