NOAA satellite GOES-16 captured this geocolor image of Hurricane Irma passing the eastern end of Cuba at about 8:00 a.m. EDT on Sept. 8, 2017. Photo: NOAA.

The government of Luxembourg has deployed its emergency.lu Rapid Response Kit to provide vital satellite-enabled connectivity to the coordination center in Dominica following the devastation brought by the Category 5 Hurricane Maria. The connectivity provided on an SES satellite is used for broadband and voice communication to ensure that emergency services and first responders can stay informed and connected, and are able to act quickly where they are most needed.

Luxembourg deployed the solution following a request from the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC) to support the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA). Volunteers from Luxembourg Civil Protection helped install the Rapid Response Kit.

Another emergency.lu Rapid Response Kit was deployed earlier in the island of Saint Martin to re-establish connectivity to the airport of Sint Maarten, after the Category 5 Hurricane Irma made landfall in the Northeast Caribbean islands, severely damaging terrestrial telecommunications infrastructure. The government of Luxembourg sent emergency.lu Rapid Deployment Kits to the region earlier this month to support the establishment of humanitarian hubs and to provide communication links for first responders.

In addition to the already-available satellite capacity for emergency.lu services, SES has donated additional satellite capacity to support the high demand for connectivity for relief actions.

Emergency.lu is a rapid communications solution for global disaster relief and humanitarian missions, developed and implemented as a Public-Private Partnership (PP) by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg in collaboration with a consortium of Luxembourg companies and organizations: SES TechCom, Hitec and Luxembourg Air Rescue. The government of Luxembourg can deploy the kit anywhere in the world within hours of a natural catastrophe or man-made crisis.

The emergency.lu solution consists of satellite infrastructure and capacity, communication and coordination services, and satellite ground terminals as well as transportation of equipment to disaster areas all over the world.