Sweden opens orbital launch site looking for users
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Loading... - Alicia Davies
- 27 Jan 2023
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Swedish and European officials inaugurated what they called mainland Europe’s first orbital launch site Jan. 13, but it’s unclear who will launch from the facility and when.
During a brief ceremony at the Esrange Space Center in northern Sweden attended by the king and the prime minister of Sweden as well as the president of the European Commission, the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) declared a new orbital launch facility at the site, which has long hosted sounding rocket launches, is ready to accommodate customers.
“With Spaceport Esrange, E.U. gets a strategic asset which provides independent access to space,” said Anna Kinberg Batra, chair of the board of SSC. “This will be instrumental for reaching the E.U. and U.N. sustainability goals as well as strategies within security and defense.”
Those views, particularly the importance of space to European security nearly a year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, were echoed by other attendees. “The current geopolitical situation, not least, of course, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, has demonstrated how important it is that the European Union has access to space,” said Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.
“It’s a big moment for Europe. It’s a big moment for Europe’s space industry. The first orbital launch site on the European mainland,” said Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission. “This spaceport offers an independent European gateway to space.”
Europe already has independent access to space through the spaceport in French Guiana operated by the French space agency CNES, which hosts Ariane and Vega launches. That spaceport is also renovating a pad to support multiple small launch vehicles. Read More…
