The European Commission has selected SES Astra, a direct-to-home satellite system in Europe, to provide services to the European navigation service, European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service, or EGNOS.

EGNOS is managed by the European Commission (EC) on behalf of the European Union (EU). Under the terms of the contract, SES Astra will supply the EU with a tailor-made payload as well as the related necessary ground infrastructure. The payload will operate in L-band and be located on SES Astra’s new Sirius 5 satellite.

Sirius 5, procured by SES Satellite Leasing in the Isle of Man, is scheduled for launch in the second half of 2011 and is currently under construction by Space Systems/Loral. SES Astra is planning to start operating the EGNOS payload by year-end 2011.

Ferdinand Kayser, president and CEO of SES Astra, said: We are very proud to have been chosen by the EC to contribute to this important satellite navigation service which will play an important role in the development and realization of the Galileo system. The decision shows that the commercial satellites of SES Astra can provide great value to governments and institutions that are looking for capacity for their satellite based projects such as EGNOS.