Country dossier · SWE

Sweden

Advanced space-faring nation

A sourced snapshot of Sweden's posture in space — capability, institutions, orbital assets, law and people. Every figure carries its primary source; gaps are shown honestly, never filled with invented data.

Open Sweden in the interactive workspace →

Capability tier

Advanced space-faring nation

Launches to orbit from its own territory: noLaunch sites on record: 1Nationals who have flown: 2

Source: ALL IN SPACE capability ladder · see methodology

Space agency

SNSA (Swedish National Space Agency)

National space agency · established 1972 · two-source verified

Source: SNSA

Satellites (owner state)

16

Counted from the GCAT May 2026 snapshot. The interactive workspace shows a live CelesTrak figure, which uses different owner-attribution rules and will differ.

Source: GCAT · General Catalog of Artificial Space Objects (J. McDowell) · May 2026 snapshot

Ground stations

26

Source: ALL IN SPACE curated ground-station dataset (operator-sourced)

Space budget

$74M

Emerging spender · 2025

Source: OECD · GBARD by socio-economic objective

National strategy

En strategi för svensk rymdverksamhet (A strategy for Swedish space activities), Skr. 2017/18:259 (2018)

Government communication setting long-term priorities for sustainable space use, industrial competitiveness and research

Source: Published national space strategies and policies

International space law

InstrumentStatus
Outer Space Treaty 1967Ratified
Rescue Agreement 1968Ratified
Liability Convention 1972Ratified
Registration Convention 1975Ratified
Moon Agreement 1979Not a party
Artemis Accords 2020Signatory (2024-04-16)

Source: Status of international agreements relating to activities in outer space (1 January 2026)

Launch sites

  • Esrange Space CenterSwedish Space Corporation (SSC) · Kiruna, Lapland · orbital planned · since 1966

Source: National launch site roster · ALL IN SPACE compilation

Astronauts

  • Christer FuglesangESA · first flight 2006 · First Swedish (and first Nordic) citizen in space
  • Marcus WandtESA · first flight 2024 · Second Swedish astronaut; ESA reserve

Source: Astronaut biographies

Milestones

  • 1966First orbital launch from national soil
  • 1972SNSA (Swedish National Space Agency) established
  • 2006First national in space

Notable missions and contributions

  • ESA founding member — SNSA (1972)
  • Esrange Space Center (Kiruna, 1966) — 600+ rockets, developing orbital launch
  • Christer Fuglesang — astronaut (STS-116, STS-128)
  • Viking satellite (1986) — magnetospheric physics
  • SSC global ground station network (10+ worldwide)
  • Odin satellite (2001) — still operational after 23 years