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Apr 4 2025

Luxembourg and Spain join NATO SATCOM consortium

The NATO SATCOM Services 6th Generation (NSS6G) is a multinational consortium, led by the NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA), that enables Allied Nations to provide secure and resilient military satellite communication (SATCOM) services to NATO.

The NSS6G project was started between NCIA and France, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States, for the provision of critical SATCOM services to NATO for a 15-year period from January 2020 until the end of 2034. The agreement enabled the four Allies to provide space capacity from their military SATCOM programmes to NATO. Through NSS6G, participating Allies provide NATO with a greater, more resilient and more flexible space capability to conduct its operations and exercises.

Earlier this year, two new NATO Nations, Luxembourg and Spain, joined the project. The two Nations are providing NSS6G with next generation communications satellites that feature higher throughput and flexible frequency bands that can be tailored to meet NATO’s evolving needs. Luxembourg is providing the services through its GOVSAT satellite, and Spain is providing its offerings through Hisdesat, which is the operator of the Spainsat NG-1 satellite.

These services provide additional super high frequency (SHF) and ultra-high frequency (UHF) bands, both of which are in high demand, thus increasing the overall resilience of satellite communications.

NCIA is responsible for operating the SATCOM capability to deliver services to NATO. While NSS6G is procured with the main objective to support NATO operations and exercises, Allied Nations can also request satellite communication services from NATO, via NCIA. Each request will be assessed by the appropriate NATO bodies, and upon approval, NCIA will provide the requested services.