Published October 7, 2021 at 13:51
Domestic. From the Esrange space base outside Kiruna, Sweden will soon have the capacity to launch its own satellites into orbit, reports P4 Norrbotten.
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Europe today lacks the ability to launch satellites from European soil. Sweden will now be part of a small exclusive club of more than a dozen countries in the world that have their own satellite capability – that is, the ability to independently launch satellites into orbit around the globe.
The country will now greatly develop its own space base Esrange. The base was created in the 60's as a result of the space race and since 1966 almost 600 rockets have been launched from the base, mainly for research purposes.
The investment in now being able to launch its own satellites is not funded by the EU, but through a loan agreement of SEK 120 million through the state-owned space company SSC and the Nordic Investment Bank.
– With this funding, we will go so far as to be able to launch satellites into orbit, says Philip Påhlsson, project manager for New Esrange, to the radio.
According to him, the first satellites will be launched from the space base next summer .
– We get a basic ability in place with the help of the message we have now received. Then there is further potential to develop this, says Philip Påhlsson to P4.
A first investment was made by the government already in 2018 when SEK 60 million was set aside for the test operations that have now been established.
– During the first 50 years of space technology, Europe has been a bit behind the development. Now both the EU and the European space agency ESA (European Space Agency) are investing heavily, and Sweden can step out on the global space scene through our state-of-the-art space base Esrange, said Stefan Gustafsson, head of strategy at SSC, then.
military purposes are used to gather information about the earth, the atmosphere and the oceans as aids to be able to monitor the environment and the weather, deforestation and forest fires.