- LUXEOps signs long-term agreement with Luxembourg’s Directorate of Defence for lifetime end-to-end maintenance and operations of LUXEOSys ground segment.
LUXEOps, a formal Luxembourg Temporary Partnership founded by RHEA System Luxembourg S.A., LUXSPACE sàrl (Luxembourg), OHB Digital Connect GmbH (Germany) and RHEA System S.A. (Belgium), announces the signature of a long-term service agreement with Luxembourg’s Directorate of Defence of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, for the lifetime maintenance and operations of LUXEOSys, the Luxembourg Earth Observation System procured by the Luxembourg Government.
LUXEOps has been awarded that agreement upon completion of a competitive public tender process initiated by Luxembourg’s Directorate of Defence in December 2020. LUXEOps will thereby assume, on behalf and under the direction of the Luxembourg Government, the end-to-end responsibility of the various phases of the LUXEOSys programme, from pre-launch preparation and validation of the LUXEOSys ground segment, through 24/7 in-orbit operations of the satellite platform and payload, up to management and exploitation of the high-resolution satellite images to the benefit of the Directorate of Defence, its external partners and end-users.
Thanks to the collective longstanding experience and deep expertise of its founding companies in lifecycle management of low Earth orbit satellite imagery systems, LUXEOps brings to LUXEOSys a robust engineering and operations solution within Luxembourg for Luxembourg. Leveraging an already established core team, LUXEOps will establish a full team of local engineers and technicians providing end-to-end services from an operational centre anchored in Luxembourg City, where the personnel of the Directorate of Defence, its satellite system suppliers and LUXEOps will be conveniently collocated. Furthermore, LUXEOps’ solution to LUXEOSys also integrates added-value services from LuxTrust S.A., the renowned and highly trusted Luxembourg company, acting as key subcontractor.
“Our commitment to bring to the Directorate of Defence a full end-to-end service has been the core driver of LUXEOps and of its founding companies. Being responsible for the operation of the Mission Operations Centre, the Data Processing Centre as well as for providing all IT and logistics services, it was essential for us to bring a fully local, flexible solution based on a service approach, in order to maximize the value extracted from the Luxembourg strategic investments in the LUXEOSys ground segment. LUXEOps will act as the single interface accountable for that end-to-end service to the Directorate of Defence. We are honoured to have been selected as the partner of trust of the Luxembourg Government and are fully committed to make LUXEOSys an operational and strategic success,” say Pascal Rogiest and Edgar Milic, respectively Gérant and Co-Gérant of LUXEOps, and Managing Directors of RHEA System Luxembourg and LUXSPACE.
“This programme will confer an important strategic asset to the Luxembourg Defence as we are developing a unique imagery system that will be of great use for Luxembourg, for international organizations as well as for our allies. I am convinced that LUXEOps has all the needed skills and expertise to support the future LUXEOSys mission and I am looking forward to establishing a strong long-term relationship with the team,” says Geoffroy Beaudot, Head of Space & Cyber Division and Programme leader of LUXEOSys, Directorate of Defence.
“The LUXEOSys programme is of the utmost importance for Luxembourg and will also serve as an exceptional tool for our allied partners. I would also like to highlight the amazing work of my team. The programme is now on track and I look forward to having an efficient system, ready to deliver high-resolution images in 2023,” says Nina Garcia, First Advisor to the Minister of Defence.
“By participating in this long-term project, OHB Digital Connect is consistently implementing its growth strategy in the field of satellite and ground segment operations. In this context, we benefit from our innovative systems and our many years of experience,” says Dennis Winkelmann, Managing Director of OHB Digital Connect GmbH. Dieter Birreck, also Managing Director of OHB Digital Connect GmbH adds: “The expertise and knowledge in the cooperation between RHEA and OHB (groups) and the trust of Luxembourg’s Directorate of Defence of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs are very pleasing to us and are an important key to the sustainable success of the programme.”
“Founded 30 years ago as a specialized space and cybersecurity engineering services organization, for decades RHEA Group has been recognized as a trusted partner of several international institutions and agencies in satellite systems operations. I’m honoured that such expertise, combined with that of LUXSPACE and OHB Digital Connect, has been recognized and trusted by the Luxembourg Directorate of Defence through this very important LUXEOSys agreement. Thanks to its international footprint, RHEA will bring additional strategic and security values to LUXEOSys, in close cooperation with the Luxembourg Government,” says André Sincennes, Managing Director of RHEA System S.A.
The agreement signed between the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Directorate of Defence and LUXEOps runs for an initial term of 5 years, encompassing pre-launch preparation, operational validation of the LUXEOSys ground segment, the satellite launch and commissioning planned in 2023, and to be extended as the LUXEOSys programme fulfils its mission to provide high resolution images to national and international organizations such as NATO.
Press contact: Isabelle Roels