SES has
secured a long
term commercial
satellite
communications
contract to
support the
operational
phase of NATO
Alliance Ground
Surveillance
(AGS). The
contract is for
an end-to-end
service and
includes the
delivery of
satellite
capacity in
commercial
Ku-band -
largely coming
from the SES
fleet - as well
as associated
capacity
management
services. These
services support
the command &
control and
sensor data
communications
required by NATO
Global Hawk
vehicles over
the AGS
operational
area.
GovSat is a
public-private
partnership between
the Luxembourg
Government and SES.
It offers capacity
leases and related
24/7 secure
operations from
facilities with EU
and NATO clearances
to governments and
institutions. Its
first satellite,
GovSat-1, is
currently under
construction and
scheduled for launch
in 2017.
The AGS system
consists of air,
ground and support
elements performing
all-weather,
persistent wide-area
terrestrial and
maritime
surveillance in near
real-time. AGS will
be able to
contribute to a
range of missions
such as protection
of ground troops and
civilian
populations, border
control and maritime
safety, the fight
against terrorism,
crisis management
and humanitarian
assistance in areas
affected by natural
disasters.
“The award of
this contract
confirms the unique
capability of GovSat
to address the
secure communication
requirements of a
NATO defence
program, including
the handling of
sensitive and
classified
material,” said
Patrick Biewer, CEO
of GovSat. “GovSat
is now de-facto
operational, well
ahead of the
GovSat-1 satellite
launch which is
foreseen for next
year.”
