The Swedish National Space Agency (SNSA, ) is a government agency in Sweden operating under the Swedish Ministry of Education and Science. SNSA operates as a key component of the Swedish space programme, which is mostly carried out through international cooperation, and has included a sequence of satellite missions, both national ones and in cooperation with other nations. Furthermore, the agency distributes government grants to research and development, initiates research and development in space and remote sensing, and acts as the Swedish contact in international cooperative efforts.

By the 2010s, it had a yearly budget of approximately 900 Mkr (100 M€), about 70% of which being used to support various programmes performed by the European Space Agency (ESA) that had been deemed to be of importance to Sweden. As of 2018, SNSA comprised a total of 30 permanent employees, the majority operating from its office in the Solna Municipality of Stockholm, Sweden. Rymdstyrelsen changed its English name from the Swedish National Space Board to the Swedish National Space Agency in 2018.

History

Background

The nation of Sweden's space activities predate the establishment of SNSA by several decades; a key early milestone was the founding of the Kiruna Geophysical Observatory (KGO) during July 1957, which had been preceded by over a decade of appeals and negotiations by members of the Swedish scientific community.

In 1959, the Swedish Space Research Committee (SSRC) was founded to pursue three primary objectives: the development of a national space programme, to ensure Swedish engagement with international projects, and to handle a prospective launch site for sounding rockets.

Another particularly high-profile event was the launch of the first Swedish astronaut, Christer Fuglesang, into space during December 2006.

Satellite missions

  • Viking (1986−1987), to explore plasma processes in the magnetosphere and the ionosphere
  • Freja (1992−1996), a second space physics mission
  • Astrid 1 (1995), microsatellite for space physics
  • Astrid 2 (1998–1999), microsatellite for space physics
  • Odin (2001−present), Swedish-Canadian-Finnish-French satellite for astronomy and atmospheric chemistry
  • Prisma (2010−present), technology test of constellation flight
  • Mats (2019), investigating atmospheric waves

Director-Generals

{| class="wikitable"

! Years !! Name

|-

| 1972−1979 || Hans Håkansson

|-

| 1979−1989 || Jan Stiernstedt

|-

| 1989−1998 || Kerstin Fredga

|-

| 1998−2009 || Per Tegnér

|-

| 2009−2018 || Olle Norberg

|-

|2018–2024 || Anna Rathsman

|-

|2024–present || Ella Carlsson

|}

See also

  • List of government space agencies
  • Swedish Space Corporation
  • Esrange
  • Swedish Institute of Space Physics
  • European Space Agency
  • Government agencies in Sweden

References