The first space base on the European continent was inaugurated this Friday in Sweden, from where small satellites will be launched, a growing market that is associated with the European Space Agency (ESA).
From the new facilities, built at the Esrange Arctic Space Center, in operation since 1966, satellites will be launched from 2024, according to sources from the Swedish space agency (AES) cited by Efe.
Until now, the only European launch site, for small and large satellites, probes, telescopes and rockets, operated under the umbrella of ESA in Kourou, French Guiana, in South America. Russia, with which ESA broke relations due to the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, does have a space base, but in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, Asia.
“This is a great moment for Europe, for the European space industry… the first orbital launch site on the European continent,” congratulated the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, at the inauguration of the infrastructure, located 40 kilometers from the city of Kiruna, in the Lapland region.
Sweden, which hosts the new space facilities, has presided over the Council of the European Union since January 1.
Ursula von der Leyen highlighted, at the ceremony, the benefits of using small satellites in areas such as security and climate.
“Studying space helps us understand our place in the Universe,” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said, in turn, during the event, which also included the participation of King Carl XVI Gustaf.
Created by ESA to study Earth’s atmosphere and the northern lights, the Esrange Arctic Space Center is operated by the Swedish state-owned company Swedish Space Corporation (SSC), which expects to launch the first satellite in the first quarter of next year, according to a voice. port cited by the AFP news agency, making Sweden the first country in Europe to do so from the soil of the continent.
The expansion of facilities inaugurated this Friday will allow rockets to be launched about 30 meters high and capable of transporting loads of a few hundred kilos.
In the long term, SSC intends to launch payloads of more than one ton into space.
Portugal planned to launch, still in 2021, microsatellites from a space base to be built on the Azorean island of Santa Maria, but the process has had several setbacks.
Source: TSF
