Two small spaceports in the far north of Sweden and Norway are racing to launch the first satellites from mainland Europe into space as the region looks to reduce its reliance on U.S. players.

Stockholm

Two small spaceports in northern Sweden and Norway are preparing to launch the first satellites from mainland Europe. This initiative is part of Europe's efforts to reduce its dependence on U.S. space capabilities, a need highlighted by recent geopolitical developments and limited European launch capacity.

Currently, Europe's only operational orbital launch site is in French Guiana, far from the continent, and recent figures show Europe lags significantly behind the U.S. in launch numbers and investment. The new Nordic sites—S-range in Sweden and Andoya in Norway—offer strategic advantages and are expected to play a crucial role in meeting both civilian and defense needs, including rapid launch capacity for NATO.

Europe looks to Nordic space race to scale back U.S. dependence

These two small spaceports in Sweden and Norway are racing to launch the first satellites from mainland Europe into space, as the region looks to reduce its reliance on U.S. players. Europe has been pushed into ramping up its independent capabilities in a variety of areas by U.S. President Donald Trump's America First policies and the war in Ukraine. But when it comes to space, there's a mountain to climb. In 2024, the U.S. carried out 154 launches of hardware into orbit, while Europe managed three. And an EU study shows that out of the $143 billion in global public investment in space ventures last year, Europe accounted for just 10 percent. Stefan Gustafsson, former chief strategist at the Swedish Space Corporation, said Europe needs to catch up, and quickly. We lack defense space infrastructure to a dangerous degree, so we really need to put efforts there. And that is done now. I only hope that they will do it a little bit in a new way, so that we are not stuck into long, huge institutional processes once again. Europe's only current orbital launch location is in French Guiana in South America, more than 4,000 miles away from Paris. That's where Europe's new Ariane 6 rocket was successfully launched early last year. But the non-reusable rocket is not nearly enough to meet Europe's needs in the coming years. That's why S-range in northern Sweden and Andoya in northern Norway are so important, said Gustafsson. Andoya Spaceport has a license for 30 launches per year. In March, the site conducted the first test launch of a small rocket made by a German startup. It flew for 30 seconds before falling into the sea in what was deemed a success. The S-range Space Center offers over 2,000 square miles of uninhabited land, has little light pollution, and is easy to close to air traffic. It's also close to one of the world's largest underground iron ore mines, providing ready access to railroads and an airport. And while S-range has not set a fixed target on the number of launches per year, it will also fill an important need for NATO in providing rapid launch capacity.

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