Sweden angles to fill a void in NATO’s space plans

LONDON — Sweden is looking to establish itself as a key player in the international space domain by virtue of its northern geostrategic position and by ramping up research and development capabilities.

Earlier this month, the Swedish government adopted the country’s first-ever defense and security space strategy, which seeks to make Stockholm a space hub for allies.

“We might be the new kids on the block in NATO, but we have been doing space research for several decades in Sweden – we’ve [now] asked what void can we fill in the alliance in the space domain,” Col. Ella Carlsson, Sweden’s space chief, told reporters here.

Northern Sweden is home to the Esrange Space Center (ESP), the first European mainland orbital spaceport. The center has in part served as a launching pad for sounding rockets and has carried out research and testing of rocket engines and fuels.

In May, the Swedish Space Corporation announced that it signed an agreement with South Korean rocket company Perigee Aerospace to begin jointly launching satellites from the Arctic site in 2025.

According to a Perigee press release, the company’s Blue Whale 1 micro-launcher will be the “first-ever orbital rocket” set off from Esrange. While the spaceport has previously focused its satellite launch capabilities on civilian purposes, its chief executive Charlotta Sund recently said that the installation will likely be utilized for military launches in the future.

Another key pillar of the Swedish space strategy will be to create a portfolio of space-related capabilities and services in line with the country’s “total defense and crisis preparedness” concept.

Carlsson noted that last year the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration acquired Smart-L long-range radars from Thales, which allows the military to detect threats at a range of up to 2,000 kilometers according to the vendor’s website.

“We can use space as part of the solution to find, detect and hit targets or threats with partners,” she said. She added that in Sweden’s quest for new sensors, the country is also cooperating with the Netherlands, which also has the Smart-L radar, to assess further use cases.

The Swedish Air Force additionally signed a Space Situational Awareness sharing agreement with the U.S. Space Command in 2022, with the Scandinavian country most recently participating in the U.S-led Global Sentinel space exercise in February.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo was a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.

伦敦——瑞典正寻求凭借其北部地缘战略位置，并通过提升研发能力，确立其在国际航天领域的关键地位。

本月初，瑞典政府通过了该国首个国防和安全太空战略，旨在将斯德哥尔摩打造成为盟友的太空中心。

“我们可能是北约的新成员，但瑞典已经从事太空研究几十年了——我们（现在）一直在思考，在太空领域，我们可以在联盟中填补哪些空白，”瑞典航天局局长埃拉·卡尔松上校在这里告诉记者。

瑞典北部是埃斯兰格航天中心（ESP）的所在地，这是欧洲大陆首个轨道航天发射场。该中心曾部分用作探空火箭的发射台，并开展了火箭发动机和燃料的研究与测试。

今年 5 月，瑞典航天公司宣布与韩国火箭公司 Perigee Aerospace 签署协议，将于 2025 年开始从北极发射场联合发射卫星。

根据Perigee公司发布的新闻稿，该公司研发的“蓝鲸1号”微型运载火箭将成为埃斯兰格航天中心发射的“首个轨道火箭”。虽然该航天中心此前一直将卫星发射能力用于民用领域，但其首席执行官夏洛塔·桑德（Charlotta Sund）近日表示，该设施未来很可能用于军事发射。

瑞典太空战略的另一个关键支柱是，根据该国的“全面防御和危机准备”理念，建立一套与太空相关的能力和服务组合。

卡尔森指出，去年瑞典国防物资管理局从泰雷兹公司采购了Smart-L远程雷达，根据供应商网站的说法，该雷达使军方能够在2000公里范围内探测威胁。

她表示：“我们可以利用太空作为解决方案的一部分，与合作伙伴一起寻找、探测并打击目标或威胁。”她补充说，瑞典在寻求新型传感器的过程中，也正与同样拥有Smart-L雷达的荷兰合作，评估其更多应用场景。

瑞典空军于 2022 年与美国太空司令部签署了太空态势感知共享协议，该北欧国家最近一次参加美国主导的“全球哨兵”太空演习是在 2 月份。

伊丽莎白·戈斯林-马洛曾任《防务新闻》欧洲通讯员。她的报道涵盖军事采购和国际安全等广泛领域，尤其擅长航空领域的报道。她常驻意大利米兰。