Sweden invests $40 mn in space rocket launch site

by AFP Staff Writers
Stockholm (AFP) Mar 31, 2026
Sweden said on Tuesday it was investing 386 million kronor ($40 million) to boost the country's satellite launch capabilities, citing deteriorating security.

The investment would strengthen the launch capabilities of the Esrange Space Centre outside the city of Kiruna, north of the Arctic Circle.

Defence Minister Pal Jonson told a press conference "deteriorating security" meant more organisations "have a need for satellite-based capabilities."

"Esrange therefore constitutes an important strategic asset for the European Union and NATO -- not least in light of the increasing strategic importance of the Baltic Sea region and the Arctic's increasingly strategic importance," Jonson told reporters.

Jonson also noted that tensions between NATO and Russia had moved north.

"Sweden therefore has great potential to develop as a central space actor in the Baltic Sea region and in the Arctic by providing space capabilities and space services," he said.

The Nordic country dropped two centuries of military non-alignment and joined NATO in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

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