Sunday

28th May 2023

Europe's new space port seeks to launch reusable rockets

  • "We need to be inspirational and attractive for the young generation," said Claudie Haignere, Europe's first female astronaut. (Photo: EUobserver)
Listen to article

In a vast remote wilderness setting some 200km north of the arctic circle, Europe's first mainland satellite launch port is taking shape.

Inaugurated on Friday (13 January) by the King of Sweden, along with European Commission president Von der Leyen, the space port known as Esrange is set to launch satellites and reusable Themis rockets in the near future.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

The port is part a bigger plan to give Europe a more competitive edge in an industry currently dominated by the United States.

"We need to catch up and this is the way to do it. We need a reusable launcher with liquid propulsion in order to have this capability that is now the standard in the world," said Josef Aschbacher, director general of the European Space Agency (ESA).

That rocket comes in the shape of the Themis space launcher, composed of three reusable engines running on liquid oxygen and methane.

Test flights are planned for next year at the Esrange port, then at the European space port in Kourou, French Guiana.

Suborbital tests are scheduled in 2025, posing questions on why the Europeans continue to lag behind the likes of Elon Musk's SpaceX programme and his Starlink satellites that are providing high-band internet vital for Ukraine in its war with Russia.

"I would have hoped that we were doing that but as usual, the Americans are bit quicker. But I am sure we can find our niche in that and provide support for [secure] connectivity," said Ollie Norberg, who heads the Swedish Institute of Space Physics in Kiruna.

Founded by the ESA in 1966, the Esrange space port is already one the world's largest ground stations that provide ground to space connectivity and has fired around 600 suborbital research rockets over the years, some carrying low-gravity payloads.

But there is also money to be made. The ESA estimates the space economy is currently valued at $350bn globally and is set to grow to $1 trillion in the coming decades. The hope is that the Esrange space port will also attract new talent.

"I think we need this kind of port to attract a new generation like Elon Musk and there is a brain drain of our talent to the US, so we need to be inspirational and attractive for the young generation," said Claudie Haignere, Europe's first female astronaut.

This includes a new ESA mission set for launch this year to explore signs of life on three icy moons off of Jupiter.

Located in Sweden's Kiruna municipality, the space port's ground area is equivalent to twice the size of Luxembourg. Its remote location was selected to reduce the impact risks of falling rockets and or other possible debris.

But for the local indigenous Sami people, the space centre is another headache following a recent announcement of a nearby massive reserve of rare earth oxides, set to be mined.

"We have concerns about the space centre," said Stefan Mikaelsson, deputy chair of the board of the Sami Parliament.

"The information we have is that is also some military activity and I can see a spreading of the militarisation of the Artic from the Swedish state," he said.

Mikaelsson, who is also a reindeer herder, said military jets fly low during the spring. He described that time of year as a "birth chamber for reindeer calves, elk calves and other animals".

"It is a time of year when military activities should be as low as possible but instead they are increasing with planes in the air," he said.

The Swedish EU presidency paid for travel from Brussels to Stockholm and Kiruna, as well as accommodation and food.

Feature

Europe to define new space ambitions at February summit

The number of commercial satellites in orbit is growing exponentially, as is space tourism - and with it, problems with debris. Does Europe want to join the race and invest in more satellites and future Moon or Mars missions?

Arctic Swedish mine poses threat to indigenous Sami

The indigenous reindeer-herding Sami people in northern Sweden say they are facing an existential threat from an iron-ore mine billed as a pivotal shift towards the EU's green transition.

Opinion

What even is economic resilience — and does it matter?

GDP is an unreliable indicator of economies' capacity to thrive in times of change. And the over-reliance on GDP won't get our economies on track to meet environmental and social goals when crises hit.

Opinion

How safe are EU's North Sea wind farms from attack?

Acts of sabotage on wind farms or the underwater electricity grid are likely to be carried out as 'grey zone tactics', state-sponsored sabotage may be disguised as a civilian accident, or carried out from a leisure yacht or fishing boat.

Supported by

Latest News

  1. How the EU's money for waste went to waste in Lebanon
  2. EU criminal complicity in Libya needs recognition, says expert
  3. Europe's missing mails
  4. MEPs to urge block on Hungary taking EU presidency in 2024
  5. PFAS 'forever chemicals' cost society €16 trillion a year
  6. EU will 'react as appropriate' to Russian nukes in Belarus
  7. The EU needs to foster tech — not just regulate it
  8. EU: national energy price-spike measures should end this year

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. InformaConnecting Expert Industry-Leaders, Top Suppliers, and Inquiring Buyers all in one space - visit Battery Show Europe.
  2. EFBWWEFBWW and FIEC do not agree to any exemptions to mandatory prior notifications in construction
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us