The Esrange Space Center in Northern Sweden. Photo: SSC

Two Nordic space companies, Iceye and Swedish Space Corporation (SSC), signed a letter of intent this week to collaborate on sovereign space capabilities for Nordic and NATO security. 

They plan to explore synergies between Iceye’s intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities and SSC’s ground station network and other capabilities. They plan to support future mission development, satellite operations, and launch capabilities. 

SSC operates the Esrange Space Center in Northern Sweden, and expects to host orbital launch from the site in the coming years.

The agreement came during the NATO Arctic Space Forum held in Helsinki, Finland, last week, where Nordic and NATO leaders called for greater cooperation between governments and industry. Finland’s Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen discussed a plan to create a multinational community with allied countries that use synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites.

The Finnish Defence Forces are acquiring SAR satellites from Iceye under a 158 million euro ($182 million) order announced in September. 

“Through this LOI, we’re evaluating how to combine ICEYE’s SAR offering and SSC’s global ground network and future access to orbit. The intent is to explore concepts that strengthen Nordic collaboration for security and resilience and enable dependable ISR for NATO and the Nordics,” commented Iceye co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer Pekka Laurila.