In an article published on 7 November, the publication reports that the country’s space programme manager, Geoffrey Beaudot, confided at the Global MilSatCom Conference on Tuesday that a study was underway and talks with a contractor had begun.

He was quoted as saying that the programme would take “existing components to deliver a satellite to deliver services and high value assets for institutions and allies.”

The satellite would provide services to governmental bodies and the military of Luxembourg and its allies. It will reportedly be equipped with a “panchromatic and multispectral camera” while the craft would be “a commercial asset but managed by the government.”

Space News reported that the satellite would be launched in 2021.

In recent years Luxembourg has turned its attention to enhancing its space sector activities, notably with the space resources project. In January 2018, it will launch its first governmental communication satellite, GovSat-1, in what is a public-private venture between the Luxembourg government and satellite operator SES.

According to GovSat, the satellite will be “a multi-mission satellite which will use X-band and military Ka-band frequencies on high-power and fully steerable mission beams to support multiple operations.”

Space News quoted Beaudot as saying the governmental satellite would be offered as a solution to the governments of Luxembourg’s allies.