European satellite operator SES and the Luxembourg Government, which run a 50/50 joint venture together called GovSat (LuxGovSat S.A.), plans to build a second satellite specialising in government applications.

The satellite, GovSat-2, will orbit geosynchronously above Europe, augmenting the government connectivity services of GovSat-1. The satellite will be co-funded by SES and the Luxembourg Government.

Launched in 2018, the first satellite is operated from a secure mission operations center in Luxembourg and supports the Luxembourg Directorate of Defence, EU and NATO nations, the US Department of Defence, and other government users.

“GovSat-2 reflects the growing demand in military satcom, allowing our GovSat public-private venture to scale and broaden the services we have been providing since 2018,” Patrick Biewer, CEO of GovSat, said.

“For this brand new satellite, we are adding more frequency bands along with innovative functionalities for it to be well-positioned to address the future connectivity challenges NATO and partner nations face.”

The satellite is designed for the highest security and service assurance levels, adding new ultra-high frequency, X- and military Ka-band channels, as well as an anti-jamming system and embedded geolocation. Its design will use Thales Alenia Space’s Spacebus 4000B2 platform.

Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales Group (67 percent) and Leonardo (33 percent), has been tapped to build the new machine using its Spacebus 4000B2 platform.

Thales Alenia Space did not respond to DCD’s requests for comment.

Promising results

Yuriko Backes, Minister of Defence of Luxembourg, heralded the news as a return to Luxembourg’s outsized impact on space technology.

On July 31, SES unveiled its half-year results, reporting revenue of €978 million ($1.1bn). The results were announced as the US Space Force revealed it would be awarding $4 billion in contracts to give companies, including Intelsat, which SES recently closed its acquisition of.

“Our solid H1 2025 performance is underpinned by the strong growth in the Networks business, now c.60 percent of revenues,” Adel Al-Saleh, CEO of SES, says in the H1 report. “We continue to see commercial traction across government and mobility. This underscores our strong positioning in high-value segments, driven by our differentiated and scalable multi-orbit offering. In the first half, we secured €690 million in new business and renewals, reinforcing our future growth trajectory.”

He cited the development of Gov-Sat-2 as just part of its “robust pipeline” of opportunities in government services, also referencing “strong momentum” with the US government.