Luxembourg’s space infrastructure will in future play a more active role in multinational defence, after the government joined the largest multinational space project in NATO’s history.
On 15 February, Luxembourg’s defence ministry signed a letter of intent with the Alliance Persistent Surveillance from Space (APSS), a NATO body which improves situational awareness and understanding of the Earth by establishing a virtual constellation of national and commercial space assets. Already some 18 nations have agreed to cooperate by evenly sharing the burden and resources to improve intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets.
Luxembourg is expected to contribute by giving Allied nations access to its LUXEOSys resources, a military observation satellite ordered from OHB Italy in 2018. The satellite has courted controversy within its borders since its budget exploded from €170M to €309M.
Once operational, it will be able to transfer 100 high-resolution images of the Earth’s surface per day. This data will be used for a number of use cases, including monitoring natural disasters and providing intelligence on conflict zones.
“Luxembourg’s contribution of €16.5M will facilitate the development of this new multinational capability. Sharing and pooling our resources means being more efficient and effective in the field of surveillance,” Luxembourg defence minister François Bausch said at the meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Brussels.
“Luxembourg’s contribution of €16.5M will facilitate the development of this new multinational capability. Sharing and pooling our resources means being more efficient and effective in the field of surveillance”
Luxembourg defence minister François Bausch
In a press release, the defence ministry highlighted the importance of situational awareness on the ground, at sea or in the air, citing the “Russian war of aggression in Ukraine” as the latest theatre in which it plays a role. It wrote: “These capabilities are essential to the conduct of Alliance operations, missions and activities.”
Luxembourg’s collaboration with the APSS is taken into account as part of its NATO obligation. Currently, NATO members are expected to allocate 2% of their GDP to defence spending. In 2021, defence represented just 0.626% of GDP, according to the World Bank.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Luxembourg announced it would double its military spending to €994M by 2028, equivalent to 1% of GDP.
To reach that goal, Luxembourg is investing in dual-use intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, as well as air transport and cyber defence that serve civil and military roles. The country will also form a joint Luxembourg-Belgium battalion. And, in 2022, it signed a letter of intent with Leonardo, an Italian defence firm, and Skydweller Aero, a Spanish aircraft developer, to build a solar-powered, autonomous drone.
