The LUXEOSys project already caused some amount of controversy when it came out that the anticipated price of €170 million, which was approved by the budgetary commission in 2018, would in fact amount to €309 million in the end.
After the resignation of Etienne Schneider in March this year, minister François Bausch inherited the project and had to make the request for an extension of the budget.
The consulting firm PwC was subsequently hired to assess the situation and help answer the questions of the budgetary commission. A number of people was further interviewed, among them former minister Schneider, who elaborated that two of the necessary ground antennas for the satellite could not be installed, as initially planned, at the military basis in Herrenberg, but had to be moved to Redu in Belgium.
€67 million more had to be added since the initial draft bill failed to account for maintenance work. The Luxembourg Army was supposed to be in charge of the satellite, but a lack of qualification was asserted in hindsight. Nevertheless, a few other costs that were anticipated in March turned out to be unnecessary, which is why the project could still come in at €309 million instead of €350 million.
MPs are however still dissatisfied over the project's development. For one, there is doubt about the legal mechanisms that allowed for the Italian firm OHB-I to be contracted with building the satellite.
The situation is further complicated by the fact that Hitec, the Luxembourgish firm tasked with building the ground antennas, is currently under investigation for abusing social goods, with five people being implicated so far.
The budgetary commission is also interested in the role of Govsat, which was supposed to run the satellite, but has meanwhile stepped back from the project. Representatives of the firm will come in for questioning on 25 September.
Today, General Alain Duchène will appear in front of the commission to answer questions about the relocation of the antennas, as well as the Army's failure to monitor the satellite.
The Chamber's final vote on the LUXEOSys project is set to be completed before November, so that the launching of the satellite can go through as planned in 2022.
Favouritism in LUXEOSys project?
General Duchène and LuxGovSat representatives meet
