Home The Swedish space industry Swedish Space Corporation THE PRISMA SATELLITES Gaisler OHB Sweden RUAG Space Spacemetric Space in Sweden Space museums Contact Search Login SWEDISH SPACE CORPORATION SSC designs, launches, tests and operates space and aerospace systems and is one of the three biggest space-companies in Sweden. New space cooperation agreement between Sweden and Russia. (Pressrelease from Swedish Space Corporation. 2010-03-10) March 9, in connection with the Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt visiting Moscow, a space cooperation agreement was signed between Sweden and Russia. This agreement will give Swedish Space Corporation the possibility to offer customers circumpolar balloon flights from its launch facility Esrange Space Center in northern Sweden. "Balloon flights with longer duration that have been possible so far, are something that many scientists have requested, this agreement will make it available and also, it will further strengthen our position as the leading balloon launch service provider in the northern hemisphere" says Lennart Poromaa, General manager Science Services Division, Swedish Space Corporation.  Swedish Space Corporation: LSE acquires Aurora Technology B.V. (Press release 20th of January 2010) LSE Space Engineering & Operations AG has recently completed the acquisition of the Dutch company Aurora Technology B.V., based in Lisse, Netherlands. Aurora primarily provides space science and engineering services to ESA at ESTEC (Netherlands) and also at ESAC (Spain). Tony Lancaster, Managing Director of LSE, stated: "We are very much looking forward to developing the cooperation we have had with Aurora for some time now. For LSE, the acquisition strengthens our team in Holland and extends our presence to Spain. The additional skills coming from Aurora will benefit our activities in Germany and the Middle East. Together we are a team of 150 highly skilled engineers and scientists focused on the space services market and we are ready to meet the challenges". LSE is a German space engineering company established in 1990 and owned by the Swedish Space Corporation since 2004. LSE provides consultancy services in the fields of spacecraft operations and ground systems. The company's main operations are in Oberphaffenhofen and Darmstadt (Germany) with a further presence in the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates. The year of 2010 at Esrange Space Center in the north of Sweden. The year of 2010 will be full of interesting space missions at Esrange Space Center - Swedish Space Corporation’s (SSC) operational facility for rocket and balloon launches, testing of new aerospace vehicles as well as control and operations of satellites. (Press release 20th of January.) 15 new satellite service missions SSC will support six new satellite missions from its satellite station at Esrange Space Center during 2010. Most satellites have a scientific objective and they are owned by customers from all over the world. SSC provides satellites services such as ground control, routine support and reception of scientific data or satellite images. Prisma, Sweden’s next satellite mission (two satellites) is planned to be launched in March from Yasny in Russia and will have a ground station placed at Esrange Space Center. Prisma is developed and built by SSC on behalf of the Swedish National Space Board and has the objective to develop and qualify new technology necessary for future science missions in space. We will soon send out more information about the upcoming launch of Prisma. Satellite services at SSC have been growing steadily since the first satellite operation contract in 1978. During 2009 four new antennas were installed at Esrange to secure the accessibility to our ground communication systems. In total we now have more than 20 antennas for satellite missions up and running at Esrange Space Center. SSC also offers reliable solutions for satellite operations world wide. Besides operating the busiest civil ground station in the world at Esrange Space Center, SSC also give their customers access to a global network of ground stations in strategic locations around the world, PrioraNet. In total SSC will support many more satellites than the fifteen mentioned above. For the moment Esrange Space Center is involved in more than thirty different satellite operations. 17 balloon missions. From February to October this year 17 large balloons will be launched throughout four international balloon campaigns. The campaigns are carried out on behalf of scientists and students from universities and institutes in Europe, Japan and USA. Most of the balloon flights have the aim to conduct scientific measurements in the atmosphere such as studies of ozone loss, trace gases or phenomena linked to changes in our atmosphere. Simultaneously there will be measurements from our ground based instruments at Esrange Space Center and from aeroplanes stationed at the large hangar Arena Arctica at Kiruna Airport. One of the scientific teams is lead by Swedish scientists and they are working with a project called PoGoLite (”light-weight Polarised Gamma-ray Observer”). The team is lead by Mark Pearce, professor of physics at the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology and the team is collaborating with science teams from the U.S. and Japan. PoGoLite will open a new window to Universe by sending up a telescope, carried up to 40 km altitude by a large stratospheric balloon from Esrange Space Center. By measuring the polarization of gamma-rays (photons with very high energies), the research team will study neutron stars, active galactic nuclei and black holes. Initially, the research team has applied for funds to realize a first flight in the summer of 2010, and there will hopefully be several more flights during a few years to come. - Thanks to the possibility of lifting large and heavy experiments with balloons from Esrange, and have them flying for several days, Swedish scientists can break new grounds with these measurements", says Mark Pearce. ”This is a fantastic opportunity for Sweden to take a leading role in a new branch of astrophysics", Pearce adds. Four rocket missions. First out are two student rocket campaigns planned for March, REXUS 7 and 8. European university students will fly their own experiments designed and built within their university studies. Two microgravity rockets will be launched during 2010. The provided microgravity time differs between 3 and 13 minutes depending on the rocket motor used. The first flight, MAXUS 8, Europe’s largest sounding rocket planned for March will carry experiments developed by SSC amongst others, and the second, MAPHEUS-2, a German national rocket programme will be launched in May. ________________________________________________________________________________ SSC agrees to acquire Universal Space Network. (Pressrelease from Swedish Space Corporation.)(2009)  The Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) and Universal Space Network (USN) have reached an agreement in which SSC will acquire all the shares of US-based USN. The two companies have been working in close cooperation for the last ten years, providing satellite owners with access to a cohesive network of ground stations that provide near-global coverage of any spacecraft orbit. PrioraNet, the trademarked name of this worldwide satellite tracking service, has successfully supported civil space, commercial and public missions since 1999. “This further enhances our collective ability to provide satellite owners and operators with a one-stop shop for global telemetry, tracking, command and data services. With this integration of these two leading businesses, PrioraNet becomes the largest commercial service for satellite operations and communications”, says Mr. Lars Persson, President and CEO of the Swedish Space Corporation. Mr Tom Ingersoll, CEO of Universal Space Network states “USN was founded in 1996 by Apollo Astronaut Pete Conrad to make a fundamental change in the space industry through commercialization. Since that time USN has been both a catalyst and a pioneering agent in advancing commercial space communications and operations services in the US. This is an opportunity for us and SSC together to carry this vision to the global space community.” “Throughout this process the primary focus has been on increasing the robustness of our current space communications services while expanding the breadth of commercially based mission critical space operations services to the space industry”, remarks Joe Rothenberg, USN President and Customer Service Officer. “We believe that this integration will result in a higher quality of service that will continue to enable more efficient development and execution of innovative space programs”, added Rothenberg. SSC anticipates that the acquisition, which is still subject to US regulatory approval, will be completed within 90 to 120 days of this press release. Upon closing, USN will operate as a US- based subsidiary of SSC. From the international newspaper Space News: "In a Jan. 21 interview SSC General Manager Mikael Stern declined to disclose the terms of the purchase. He said SSC's space operations division reported about 350 million Swedish krona ($43.1 million) in revenue in 2008 and that revenue at Universal Space Network was about $15 million for the year. For 2009, SSC expects its satellite operations division to increase revenue to more than 500 million Swedish krona, assuming the purchase of Universal Space Network, based in Horsham, Pa., and Newport Beach, Calif., is approved by U.S. regulatory authorities before mid-year." For more information, please contact: Mikael Stern, General Manager, Swedish Space Corporation, tel +46 70 5666555, mikael.stern@ssc.se  or Anna Rathsman, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, Swedish Space Corporation, tel +46 70 2630064, anna.rathsman@ssc.se   Tom Pirrone, Vice President Customer Development, Universal Space Network, tel +1-215-394-0136, tpirrone@uspacenet.com   About USN Universal Space Network, Inc. (USN) is a leader in space operations for telemetry, tracking and control (TT&C) services. Offering responsive, reliable and cost-effective solutions to the global government and commercial space community, USN provides unparalleled coverage through a seamless network of worldwide satellite tracking and communications assets. These assets include both those owned by USN and those of our collaborative partners. The company has offices in Newport Beach, CA., and Horsham, PA. Read more on www.universalspacenetwork.com   Swedish Space Corporation delivers systems for telecom satellites. (Pressrelease from the company: 8 of December 2008) On 20 November 2008, SSC reached a milestone as an ESA contract regarding the telecom satellite platform Small GEO was signed. For the first time ever, SSC will deliver subsystems for commercial telecom satellites with life lengths of up to 15 years. SSC is part of an industrial consortium assigned to develop and manufacture the satellite platform Small GEO, designed to carry 300 kg telecom payloads. The market plan is based on 1-2 sold satellites yearly from 2012.  SWEDEN AND JAPAN SIGNS AGREEMENT FOR FUTURE COOPERATION. (September 29th, 2008) (from the web-site of SSC) An MOU (Memorandum of understanding) was signed today between the Swedish National Space Board and the Japanese space agency JAXA. The purpose of this Agreement is to define guidelines for considering potential future collaboration and to establish general procedures for conducting cooperation in areas of mutual interest in the field of space for peaceful purposes. For SSC the signing is of vital importance for future cooperation with JAXA, within different space areas. Amongst other space disciplines, SSC supports JAXA in several satellite missions and SSC is also hosting two Japanese satellite antennas at Esrange Space Center, the operational base of SSC in northern Sweden. A third antenna is under construction and will be ready for operations in the summer of 2009. SSC welcomes this agreement and looks forward to many interesting projects together with JAXA in the future. It is of great importance that we develop bilateral cooperations in the filed of space and that we increase our common experience and know-how in the use of space for peaceful purposes. Acquisition of Santiago Satellite Station completed. (First of August, 2008)  On July 31, SSC's acquisition of the Santiago Satellite Station was completed. SSC has established a fully-owned subsidiary, SSC Chile SA, which has acquired the station and its land area, activities and staff from the University of Chile. The agreement was signed already 20th of February 2008. This is the press-release from that date:  The Swedish Space Corporation has today announced its signing of an agreement with the University of Chile in Santiago regarding the purchase of Centro de Estudios Espaciales (CEE). The purchase includes the complete Santiago Satellite Station with all equipment and the transfer of all existing contracts. The management of the station remains the same and all 60 staff will be retained. - The Santiago Satellite Station has a very good reputation for its services and for its experienced personnel, says Mikael Stern, General Manager of the Satellite Operations Division, SSC. The station serves mainly the same customers as we do at our satellite station at Esrange Space Center in Northern Sweden, and through our global ground station network, PrioraNet. - Setting up a Chilean subsidiary is an important step in our efforts to go global, says Lars Persson, CEO of SSC. We will now have operations in five countries and more than 170 staff members outside Sweden. Swedish Space Corporation: The year 2007 in summary.  (I visited Esrange in september 2007. The pictures in this text are from that visit.)  ABOUT THE COMPANY: Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) is one of the few companies in the world which has the expertise to develop complete space projects, from the concept stage, development and testing, through to launch and operation. If we then consider how many companies the size of SSC have the capacity to carry out the whole space technology chain, SSC is virtually unique. The advantage for SSC´s customers is that they can work with a small, flexible company with a level of technology which only extremely large organisations can otherwise offer. This is all thanks to the high levels of individual expertise which SSC’s employees possess. A typical employee not only boasts in-depth knowledge within a specific field, but is also able to take on a wide range of different roles. The fact that Sweden has developed a long line of satellite projects since the mid-1980s is one of the reasons why Swedish Space has been able to build up such a wealth of expertise. Sounding rockets, which marked the beginning of Swedish space activities at the start of the 1960s, are another factor. Developing and launching sounding rockets remains one of the company’s core activities, and balloon launches were added in the 1970s. Activities such as balloon flights from Esrange around the North Pole are now being planned, allowing scientists to carry out unique scientific measurements. Conditions at Esrange Space Center are better for this type of flight than anywhere else in the world. The site’s excellent geographical location is also one of the reasons why SSC’s satellite station has come to be one of the world’s busiest civilian ground stations for polar satellites. Hence, it is Sweden’s space programme which has laid the foundation for the breadth, expertise and experience which has been so important in SSC’s growing commercial success. The same programme has also provided resources for new development which it would otherwise have been hard – or even impossible – to finance, and which will ultimately benefit mankind, either directly or indirectly, in the form of new knowledge and the good of society. SSC’s activities are carried out within four business areas: Aerospace Services, Airborne Systems, Satellite Operations and Space Systems. Space systems and maritime surveillance systems are developed at the Space Technology Building in Solna, near Stockholm. Rocket and balloon launches, satellite data collection and satellite control take place at Esrange Space Center, and flight and space systems are tested at the RFN test range in Vidsel. Various satellite communication services are offered at Stockholm Teleport. These business areas have been developed based on shared technology, providing significant synergy benefits. New opportunities are arising all the time. For example, we will soon be able to carry out more effective environmental monitoring at sea, thanks to the possibility of combining observations carried out using SSC’s airborne maritime surveillance systems with satellite observations. SSC now has three wholly-owned subsidiaries working within space activities: the Swedish innovation companies NanoSpace and ECAPS, and the German consultancy company LSE Space. The Swedish Space Corporation is now entering a phase of significant expansion, with a growing number of employees and a sharp focus on international growth and the commercialisation of the company’s various projects, taking the Swedish space programme as its basis. This expansion will bring new opportunities for creating even more of what the company’s work is all about: space technology which brings benefits and new knowledge. 2007 in brief: EXTENDED CONTRACT FOR TERRASAR-X Swedish Space Corporation has negotiated an extended communications services contract for the German satellite TerraSAR-X. TerraSAR-X is a scientific radar satellite which can observe objects on earth of one metre in size, even at night and in cloudy conditions. SUCCESSFUL TEST FLIGHTS FOR X-RAY EXPERIMENT MODULE XRMON is a new, innovative experiment module with built-in x-ray equipment, developed by Swedish Space. A successful parabolic payload test flight was carried out ahead of the forthcoming flight onboard the MASER 11 sounding rocket next year. NEW SWEDISH BALLOON AND ROCKET PROJECTS Two new Swedish space projects, the balloon-borne PoGOLite telescope and the PHOCUS sounding rocket, are now taking shape. Both the balloon and the rocket will be launched from Swedish Space’s facility Esrange Space Center during 2009. Swedish Space Corporation CONTRIBUTES TOWARDS BALTIC ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING Swedish Space has signed a contract for an airborne maritime surveillance system for the Estonian Border Guard Aviation Group. The system will be used for tasks such as environmental monitoring and search and rescue. WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH THE CLIMATE? The Odin satellite has been studying the ozone layer since 2001. Swedish Space and Chalmers University of Technology have carried out studies of a new climate satellite project to continue monitoring the atmosphere in order to increase our understanding of the climate and to improve forecasting. Consolidated income statement for 2007. (Swedish crowns, thousands) Net sales                                                                    550 929 Raw materials and consumables                                      - 33 154 Other external costs                                                    –194 661 Personnel costs                                                         – 304 005 Depreciation and write-downs of tangible fixed assets         –27 328 Other operating income                                                   10 046 Other operating expenses                                                  –706 Operating profit                                                              1 121 Result from participations in associated companies                5 270 Interest income and similar income                                     9 897 Interest expenses and similar items                                  – 4 488 Income/loss after financial expenses                                 11 800 Tax                                                                            – 3 709 Net profit for the year                                                      8 091 This text is an exerpt from the financial info of The Swedish Space Company. If you want to read more, go to www.ssc.se and read on "SSC Group/financial info/summary in English" or go to http://www.ssc.se/?id=6453  and then click on the "Summary in English" SWEDISH SPACE CORPORATION OPENS OFFICE IN CHINA. (February 27, 2008) (from the web-site of SSC) Today the Swedish Space Corporation formally inaugurated their Representative Office in Beijing. - This is an important step for SSC in order to maintain contacts and give local support to our Chinese customers as well as further explore our possibilities on fast growth on the Chinese space market, says Mr. Lars Persson, President and CEO of the Swedish Space Corporation. SSC has throughout the last decade established fruitful and prosperous relationships with China Satellite Launch and Tracking Control General (CLTC) and with the China Meteorological Agency (CMA), based on long term arrangements. The Chinese organizations will make use of SSC Ground Station facilities for support of their growing satellite fleets. The office is located in the Chaoyang District with the following coordinates: Room 812 ShiTeng Business Hotel 82 Beiyuan Road Chaoyang District Beijing 100011 China Phone: +86 13910821192 SSC signs purchase agreement for Santiago Satellite Station (February 20, 2008) (from the web-site of SSC) The Swedish Space Corporation has today announced its signing of an agreement with the University of Chile in Santiago regarding the purchase of Centro de Estudios Espaciales (CEE). The purchase includes the complete Santiago Satellite Station with all equipment and the transfer of all existing contracts. The management of the station remains the same and all 60 staff will be retained. - The Santiago Satellite Station has a very good reputation for its services and for its experienced personnel, says Mikael Stern, General Manager of the Satellite Operations Division, SSC. The station serves mainly the same customers as we do at our satellite station at Esrange Space Center in Northern Sweden, and through our global ground station network, PrioraNet. - Setting up a Chilean subsidiary is an important step in our efforts to go global, says Lars Persson, CEO of SSC. We will now have operations in five countries and more than 170 staff members outside Sweden. THE TEXUS-PROJECT. TEXUS 45. (February 21, 2008)(from the web-site of SSC) The sounding rocket Texus 45 was successfully launched today from the Swedish Space Corporation’s launch facility Esrange Space Center in northern Sweden. The launch took place at 06:15 (UT) and the rocket provided 398 seconds of weightlessness for the three experi­ments onboard. One of the experiments studies the behaviour of 72 fishes (cichlid fish) as they enter into weightlessness. The aim is to focus on motion sickness and the scientists try to understand why certain individuals get sick and others don’t. They especially look into how sick animals can adapt to this situation and overcome their sickness. - A sounding rocket flight provides a unique feature as we are able to observe our samples during entry of the phase of weightlessness. Nobody has ever before observed how animals behave in this phase and we are very excited to analyse the film sequences that were recorded onboard and successfully recovered by helicopter, says Prof. Dr. Reinhard Hilbig from the University of Hohenheim in Germany. Another experiment onboard, performed by the Technical University of Darmstadt, studies the hydrodynamics and the heat transfer in cases of spray impact onto a heated surface. The research aims at finding improved spray cooling methods in industrial processes. The third experiment studies two-phase flows in capillary channels. The results of this experiment contribute to the answers of fundamental questions within the field of fluid mechanics. This experiment is a collaboration between scientists from the University of Bremen and the Institut de Mécanique des Fluides in Toulouse. TEXUS 44 (February 7, 2008)(from the web-site of SSC) The sounding rocket Texus 44 was successfully launched today from the Swedish Space Corporation’s launch facility Esrange Space Center in northern Sweden. The launch took place at 11:30 (UT) and the rocket provided 376 seconds of weightlessness time for the 4 experiments on board.  Sixty scientists from all over Europe visiting Esrange. (January 31, 2008) (from the web-site of SSC) Around sixty scientists and technicians from all over Europe are visiting Esrange to participate in the first two rocket launches during 2008. The rocket campaigns, Texus 44 and Texus 45, are funded by ESA (European Space Agency) and the German space organisation DLR. The Texus program is carried out jointly by DLR, EADS Astrium, Kaiser-Threde and the Swedish Space Corporation. All together there will be 7 experiments flown in 6 experiment modules on the two Texus missions. The primary aim of these experiments is to investigate the properties and behaviour of metal alloys and fluids as well as biological cells in a weightless environment. One of the biological experiments is focusing on motion sickness and the scientists try to understand why certain individuals (small fishes) get sick and others don’t: -For us sounding rockets are a most appropriate spacecraft for our scientific team to reach our goals, says Prof. Dr. Reinhard Hilbig and P.D. Dr. Ralf Anken from the University of Stuttgart-Hohenheim in Germany. In addition, we are very dependent on getting back our experiment in a good shape, and we consider launches from Esrange to be most reliable. NANOSPACE RECEIVES NEW CONTRACT FROM ESA. (January 28, 2008) (from the web-site of SSC) SSC's subsidiary NanoSpace has been contracted by ESA to develop a propellant gauging system for satellites. The contract is worth 500 kEUR. Measuring the fuel level in a car is no problem. To measure the amount of propellant in the tank of a satellite in orbit, on the other hand, is a well-known difficulty in the space business. Using state-of-the art micro-system technology, NanoSpace will develop a propellant gauging system for satellites, providing significantly more precise data than other systems that are available today. ODIN SATELLITE OPERATIONS PROLONGED. (January 23, 2008) (from the web-site of SSC)  Swedish Space Corporation has been commissioned by the Swedish National Space Board to control and operate the scientific satellite Odin an additional year, until December 2008. Since last year, Odin is also part of the European Space Agency’s third party mission programme. Odin was designed for a two-year mission and has now outlived the design goal life time by six years. Since the launch in 2001, Odin has delivered a large amount of data concerning the ozone layer depletion to scientists. A year ago, scientists discovered that measurements made by Odin in the stratosphere could be used also for studies of clouds and aerosols which may have a cooling effect on our planet, as against the warming effect of carbon dioxide. SSC TAKES OVER CONTROLL OF SIRIUS 4. (January 15, 2008) (from the web-site of SSC) The Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) has officially taken over the control of SES SIRIUS’s telecommunication satellite Sirius 4. Sirius 4 was launched on November 17, 2007 and was initially controlled by the manufacturer Lockheed Martin. SSC will control Sirius 4 through the entire lifetime, around 15 years. SSC has controlled satellites in various orbits since 1986, starting with Viking, a Swedish scientific satellite making space physics measurements. Sirius 4 is the tenth satellite, and the fifth telecommunication satellite, to be controlled by SSC. The SSC Mission Control is placed at Esrange Space Center in northern Sweden. SSC communication system to fly on Russian capsule (September 8, 2007)  A system developed by The Swedish Space Corporation is to be launched into space September 14 th. It is the communication system Telescience Support Unit (TSU). The system will be used by the European Space Agency (ESA) onboard the Russian space capsule Foton M3. The flight will last eleven and a half days. The TSU will store and process data from ten experiments onboard the capsule. The information will be transmitted to Esrange Space Center – SSC’s facility in northern Sweden – from where the scientists can monitor and control their experiments. Swedish Space Corporation will implement Sirius 4. Published on the web-site of SSC (Rymdbolaget). (May 16, 2007).  SSC has again been entrusted by SES SIRIUS to be responsible for implementation and operations of a SIRIUS satellite. The new generation telecom satellite SIRIUS 4 is planned to be operational in the autumn of 2007. The satellite will be the largest of the SIRIUS fleet, which presently comprises two active satellites. The Mission Control Center at Esrange, which will handle the operations, has been subject to years-long intensive preparations and is now ready for the new task. SSC is responsible for the operational preparations and assists in the definition of specifications, procurement and establishment of the control centre, antennas and networks. SSC also has full responsibility for recruitments and training in satellite control. At certain stages, SSC has supervised the satellite construction work at the premises of the American manufacturer Lockheed Martin, which has also been the location for most training programmes. Also during the so called Launch & Early Orbit Phase, LEOP, and during subsequent tests of the satellite in orbit, SSC engineers will provide assistance on-site in the US. SSC’s control and engineering team has great experience in the fields of satellite control, commissioning and operations of various types of satellite platforms. Since 1989, SSC has been responsible for operations of a number of satellites. Today, the company handles the operations of the scientific satellite Odin, which is now operated on behalf of ESA, and the telecom satellites SIRIUS 2 and SIRIUS 3. Customers find many benefits by buying these services from SSC: lower investment costs, quick access to skilled staff and a flexible choice of services. SSC can handle missions anywhere in the world by manning the customer’s control station and by means of the global ground station network PrioraNet, which is run jointly with the US company USN. Updated 26/04/2012 Printer friendly page rymden@arielspace.se

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