SES O3b mPOWER constellation. Photo: SES

Luxembourg’s Parliament approved funding for a new program for the country to acquire services from SES’s O3b mPOWER for 10 years. 

Thursday’s news marks the approval of the Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) Global Services (MGS) program announced earlier this year. It is valued at €195 million ($213 million) over 10 years, and gives Luxembourg and NATO partners access to the MEO constellation for resilient satcom defense and security and disaster recovery.

The MGS program is possible through the U.S. and Luxembourg’s 2022 partnership for commercially contracting satellite communications capabilities through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA). 

“We welcome this important step in execution of Luxembourg Government’s defense space strategy that will greatly enhance the national Defence’s satcom capabilities’ resilience,” said Steve Collar, CEO of SES. “O3b mPOWER contributes to building secure and sovereign networks as well as supporting critical missions of disaster recovery and response, and is fundamental for high-performance, resilient communications for Europe and NATO.”

Collar is leaving SES at the end of this month and the operator is searching for a new CEO.