SES and OQ Technology part of satellite launch on SpaceX rocket

Two Luxembourg companies on Monday successfully launched satellites onboard a SpaceX rocket from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

SES and OQ Technology satellites were among 119 payloads on the flight that departed at 04:02 California time (13:02 in Luxembourg), SpaceX said.

For satellite giant SES it was the first in a series of launches over the next three years in which the company will be testing features of faster and cheaper mid-Earth orbit (MEO) satellites built with startup K2 Space.

SES said it will buy 28 satellite buses, the main platform of the spacecraft, from Los Angeles startup K2 Space for its new network of around 100 satellites in medium-Earth orbit (MEO), about 8,000 kilometers above the planet.

The satellite launched on Monday carry equipment that includes optical laser gear, an SES spokesperson told the Luxembourg Times. This would begin to test the effectiveness of using laser light beams blasted 8,000 km into space that could carry torrents of data faster than the milli-seconds of current radio-wave technology.

The satellites built by OQ Technology Hellas, the Luxembourg company’s Greek subsidiary “were successfully deployed into low Earth orbit (LEO) following launch and will now begin initial commissioning and in-orbit testing,” the company said in a press release.

These satellites are part of the ERMIS space mission, a national Greek programme led by the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in collaboration with the Hellenic Space Center.

The ERMIS mission is “focused on demonstrating key communications/connectivity and earth observation technologies and applications”, the university says on its website.