As a reminder, Minister of Defense François Bausch informed the budget commission in March that Luxembourg's military satellite will cost double the initial quote. The expensive acquisition had received the green light in 2018. Pirate Party MP Sven Clement more recently argued that former Minister of the Economy Etienne Schneider should be brought in for a hearing at the Chamber of Deputies as the project had been launched under his authority.
Etienne Schneider has reacted to the allegations of favouritism in the LUXEOSys project and told RTL that he is willing to provide further explanations at the Chamber of Deputies. "I have nothing to hide and I will of course join my former colleagues to answer questions from the budget commission," the former politician said. He added that he is yet to receive an invitation from the Chamber and underlined his desire to put an end to the rumours.
President of the budget and control commission Diane Adehm was one of Schneider's most vocal critics. She argued that the satellite project had been a "prestige project" for the former minister. She claimed that Schneider had hoped to receive the green light for the expensive project before the elections in October 2018. Adehm said they did not see the economic value of the military satellite.
Despite the ongoing controversies, the rocket launch is scheduled for mid 2020 from Kourou. Italian firm OHB Italia was tasked with the construction of the satellite.
