Austria's defence minister, Klaudia Tanner, announced in Luxembourg on Monday that Vienna intends to buy secure communications capacity on GovSat-2, the Grand Duchy's €301 million military satellite. It is the first foreign partner for the project, and the two ministers signed a broader letter of intent on defence cooperation.
Europe built Ariane 6 to guarantee its own access to space. In 2026 the rocket is kept flying mostly by Amazon's mega-constellation — a dependency that runs, through SES and the ESA, straight to Luxembourg.
Luxembourg's Chamber of Deputies voted 57 to 60 on 21 January 2026 to authorise a EUR 301 million financing law for GovSat-2, a secure government and military communications satellite. Run through the 50/50 LuxGovSat joint venture between the Luxembourg State and operator SES, the project routes the build to France's Thales Alenia Space and the launch to Arianespace. Defence Minister Yuriko Backes framed it as a contribution to EU and NATO security and a bet on European strategic autonomy.
SES reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of 847 million euros, up 80.5% at constant currency in its first full quarter consolidating Intelsat. The headline surge is largely an accounting effect: on a like-for-like basis, revenue rose 3.1%. CEO Adel Al-Saleh pointed to early integration wins, with staff costs down 20%, as the Luxembourg group chases 370 million euros in annual synergies.
SES launched two more O3b mPOWER satellites aboard a Falcon 9 on Friday night, bringing its medium-earth-orbit fleet to nine and unlocking the Pacific service ring.
The Luxembourg-headquartered satellite operator is launching a national Space Campus to bring core design, integration and manufacturing in-house — a strategic break with four decades of outsourcing.