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Ruy Pinto of SES, André Bauerhin of Spaceopal, Nicole Robinson of SES, and Étienne Schneider, Luxembourg’s deputy prime minister and economy minister, are seen during a contract signing ceremony, 30 May 2018. Photo credit: @SES_Satellites 

The contract is with Spaceopal, the German firm that operates the Galileo satellite fleet under contract with the EU, SES said in a press release on 30 May:

“SES will provide Spaceopal with services to support the maintenance and seamless operations of the Galileo Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). SES will be responsible for in-orbit measurements for the Galileo satellite constellation”.

In addition, the Luxembourg firm will provide services for connecting Galileo ground stations.

According to the SES announcement, the company has already secured Galileo-related contracts:

“Previously, SES has provided infrastructure and services for the Galileo program, as well as ground stations and in-orbit testing during the In-Orbit Validation (IOV) Phase.”

Galileo is the EU’s “global navigation satellite system which provides a highly accurate global positioning service for public, governmental and commercial use.”

SES is one of the world’s largest satellite providers. It had contracts worth more than €7bn at the end of March, according to its investor presentation published on 27 April 2018.