GovSat-2: Luxembourg lines up next military satellite
Luxembourg officials are close to announcing plans to spend hundreds of millions of euros to build and launch a new, highly-secure military and government satellite that will nurture the domestic space sector with fat procurement contracts, the Luxembourg Times has learned.
Details of a second spacecraft that expands on the seven-year-old GovSat-1 satellite are weeks or months away if the government successfully completes planning and prepares required legislation, a source involved in the process said.
If ministers give their go-ahead, Luxembourg’s parliament will consider and debate the draft law which will mean a big expansion in Luxembourg’s defence spending, said the source, who requested anonymity to discuss the project.
The price tag is likely to be greater than the original GovSat-1 satellite featuring encrypted communications and anti-jamming technology launched in 2018, which cost at least €225 million. Domestic satellite pioneer SES and the Luxembourg state each spent €50 million and SES took out a €125 million loan from Luxembourg banks BGL BNP Paribas and Spuerkeess to finance the craft.
Google feels the love and opens Luxembourg office
Google and the University of Luxembourg announced on Thursday the opening of a new joint centre of excellence at the university’s Kirchberg campus, as well as the opening of a new corporate office in Luxembourg, to be based on Boulevard Royal in the centre of the capital.
Hailed as a major development in Google’s relationship with the Grand Duchy, the move is not directly connected to the planned Google data centre in Bissen – though it is considered part of the preparation process.
Google Vice President for the EMEA South region Anthony Cirot said those plans continue. “If you feel love locally, you open an office,” he said at the the launch event on Thursday afternoon. The new office will feature “real Google employees who will cover the market for Luxembourg,” he said, adding that it will be “medium sized”.
Google declined to confirm the exact size of its financial investment in the new Luxembourg office, or how many people will work there.
Housing yet again at top of government lobbying agenda
Luxembourg’s housing market and proposals to create affordable accommodation were yet again at the forefront of meetings held by ministers in the second half of last year, according to updated government lobbying registers.
Just over one in five of all meetings held by government ministers with outside organisations between July and December related to housing, lists of the meetings show.
There are two separate government lobby registers, one which outlines meetings between ministers and outside organisations and another that provides a list of lobbyists meeting with senior civil servants.
Although the overall share of meetings related to housing held by both ministers and civil servants has dropped – it stood at around one in three during the first nine months of the government’s term in office – the issue continued to dominate the political agenda during the second half of last year.
By royal appointment: Sasha Baillie reflects on seven years at Luxinnovation
In seven years at the helm of Luxinnovation, Sasha Baillie has overhauled the national innovation agency and helped refocus its purpose for the modern age. Speaking with the Luxembourg Times ahead of her departure for the royal household on 1 March, the career diplomat talks military strategy, custom kitchens and why the Grand Ducal palace is not as different to the start-up scene as you might imagine.
On the face of it, Luxinnovation and the royal household could hardly be more different. One is perhaps rooted a little bit in the past – in heritage – while the other is certainly rooted very much in the future. What are the key things you’ve learnt and experienced at Luxinnovation that you’re going to take with you?
Well, I think what I really learnt through Luxinnovation is running quite a large organisation. We’re now a hundred-person staff, very diverse people from different backgrounds. Running an organisation means a strategic understanding of the teams and their competences and different roles and responsibilities.
I restructured this organisation. I brought a strategy to it and I think that is relevant in any kind of organisation. It’s all about the humans and their individual personalities and competences, understanding and making clear who’s doing what, why and how does it all flow together. I think that’s relevant in any type of organisation.
Where I also see the parallel is all about having positive impact for Luxembourg. Running the innovation agency has been about bringing forth the competences we have in different sectors, in business and in research, and making everything work together so that we can showcase what Luxembourg has. And I think the Grand Duke has a tremendous role of also representing the country and bringing value to what we have in Luxembourg, transmitting the strengths and the beauty of the country. It is very similar in this sense.
Talking about child sexual abuse helps young victims speak out
Earlier this month, two teenage girls from Luxembourg faced their father in court after accusing him of child sexual abuse. The man upon arrest did not deny the claims but said his daughters initiated the sexual contact and enjoyed it.
The oldest daughter, now 19, says her father abused her from age 9 to 14, while the second daughter, now 16, says she was 12 when her father started molesting her. In both cases, the father stands accused of having abused his victims at home, in their beds or the parental bed. The mother has denied any awareness of his misdoings. The older daughter spoke out when she was 16, at the behest of a friend.
Court proceedings are ongoing and the suspect has not yet been convicted.
Luxembourg’s police force in 2023 recorded 107 complaints for violation of a child’s sexual integrity and 55 child rapes, the justice ministry said in answer to a parliamentary question in July last year.
Recognising the signs of sexual abuse is not always straightforward, but there are behaviours to look out for, said psychologist Gilbert Pregno, former president of the Consultative Human Rights Commission in an interview.