On 21 January 2026, the Chamber of Deputies voted, with 57 votes in favour, the bill authorising the government to finance the acquisition, launch and operation of the GovSat-2 satellite, intended for government and military communications, as well as to acquire satellite capabilities.

“GovSat-2 is a strategic project that allows Luxembourg Defence to make a significant contribution to collective security and defence efforts at EU and NATO level, while offering a significant economic return for Luxembourg,” said the Minister of Defence, Yuriko Backes.

Like GovSat-1, the first communication satellite of the public-private partnership LuxGovSat S.A. – a joint venture with equal equality between the Luxembourg government and SES – the future GovSat-2 satellite is placed in geostationary orbit and covers the same areas of interest, namely Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Technological evolution

As with its predecessor, the main mission of GovSat-2 is to provide communication capabilities to Luxembourg’s Defence, the EU, NATO, and Luxembourg’s partner countries.

GovSat-2 takes into account current and future needs, technological developments and, above all, the space context marked by an increase in threats. Thus, the future communications satellite offers more communication capabilities and better protection against hostile attacks such as high-altitude nuclear explosions and interference attacks.

“Current political developments are a reminder of the importance of strengthening Europe’s strategic autonomy. For the GovSat-2 programme, we have given priority to European partners: the satellite will be built by the French company Thales Alenia Space, integrating Luxembourg companies into the value chain, and the satellite is planned to be put into orbit by the European company Arianespace. ” said Yuriko Backes.

Funding

The budget for the GovSat-2 project amounts to €301 million and the financing law authorises the Government to make the following investments:

• €101 million capital increase in LuxGovSat by the Luxembourg Ministry of Defence
• €200 million for the underwriting of satellite communication capacities, including €180 million over the 12 years following the date of entry into operation of GovSat-2. And up to €20 million over two years for GovSat-1 capacity, pending the commissioning of the new satellite

In addition, there is a budget reserve of 15 million euros. This reserve is not a certain expenditure, but a margin of budgetary flexibility, intended more specifically to respond to any technical, operational or geopolitical hazards inherent in the GovSat-2 programme, whose implementation period will extend over nearly two decades.

Finally, the law authorises the government to enter into strategic partnerships with partner countries for an amount of €500 million. This envelope does not constitute an expenditure for Luxembourg, but an accounting mechanism allowing the implementation of cooperation with partners upstream of the operationalisation of GovSat-2. This mechanism is therefore budget-neutral – the reserved envelope simply covers and allows the transit of funds from partners transiting through the State budget in order to allow the provision of GovSat-2 capabilities as soon as it is operationalized.

Relevance of the project

The space domain is essential in NATO’s collective deterrence and defence system and is a strategic issue and a priority within the European Union. In a rapidly changing geopolitical environment, the ability to have secure and reliable communications is crucial. In addition, the armed forces’ satellite communications needs will grow significantly over the next few years, both in terms of quantity and quality of service. The launch of a second communications satellite is therefore essential and necessary also in terms of resilience.

While satellites play a crucial role in military communications, navigation, command of operations and the transmission of strategic data, they have become priority targets in any strategy of destabilization or asymmetric confrontation. GovSat-2 is a strategic response to these developments.