GovSat, an affiliate of European satellite operator SES, is to support the operational phase of the NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance program.

Work under the NATO end-to-end service contract includes the delivery of satellite capacity in commercial Ku-band -- largely coming from the SES fleet – and associated capacity management services to support command-and-control and sensor data communications required by NATO Global Hawk vehicles.

"The award of this contract confirms the unique capability of GovSat to address the secure communication requirements of a NATO defense program, including the handling of sensitive and classified material," said Patrick Biewer, chief executive officer of GovSat. "GovSat is now de-facto operational, well ahead of the GovSat-1 satellite launch which is foreseen for next year."

GovSat is a public-private partnership between the Luxembourg government and SES. It offers capacity leases and secure operations from facilities with European Union and NATO clearances to governments and institutions.

SES said GovSat's first satellite, GovSat-1, is currently under construction and scheduled for launch next year.

The NATO AGS system consists of air, ground and support elements for all-weather, persistent wide-area terrestrial and maritime surveillance in nearly 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.