With pomp, in the presence of the King and the Prime Minister, Sweden "opened" a new spaceport - nominally the first in the continental part of Europe. The quotes are not accidental: too many nuances should be accepted to recognize it as both the first and the cosmodrome.
The ceremony was held on January 13 in the presence of the most important officials of Sweden and the President of the European Commission. The Chairman of the Board of the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC, plays the role of the national space Agency) Anna-Maria Kinberg-Batra (Anna Kinberg Batra) officially named the Esrange rocket test site (Esrange Space Center) near the city of Kiruna in the Swedish Arctic.
Three new launch tables were put into operation on its territory. The first is for suborbital launches and small carriers with a payload capacity of up to 300 kilograms into sun—synchronous orbits, the second is for rockets with a payload of up to 1200 kilograms into the same orbits. Another one is reserved for testing reusable rockets. A building was erected next to the new site for the assembly of carriers and the integration of payloads into them.
Most of the speeches at the event were limited to political issues: how important is permanent access to space for Europe? Especially at the end of 2022, when cooperation with Russia has become almost impossible. From this point of view, its spaceport on the continental part of the EU really looks attractive.
However, there are some technical and economic issues with the site. For example, the latitude of the cosmodrome (68 degrees) radically limits the available inclination of the orbits. That is why in the description of the new launch tables, the purpose of the missiles is indicated as MTR. The market for such launches may be growing, but slowly, and the supply in the coming years promises to be excessive.
In addition to the New Zealand-American Rocket Lab, which has been successfully operating for a long time, half a dozen startups around the world are going to occupy a niche. They are either already conducting flight tests of their carriers, or preparing for them, but the sites were not chosen in Sweden.
In addition, there is no shortage of spaceports for this class of missiles even in Europe. Two sites in Scotland (Sutherland and Shetland) are almost ready at once, there is a test site on the island of Annea in Norway, as well as several test centers in different countries that are actually ready for launches of ultra-small carriers. Well, as for the status of the first in the continental part of Europe — Esrange can be considered as such only for the EU, since Plesetsk and Kapustin Yar have been in Europe as a part of the world for a very long time.
It is worth admitting that the scale of the cosmodrome is not impressive. The new launch tables are compactly located at a small distance from the launch site for geophysical rocketsImage Source: SSC, SpaceNews
The Esrange test site has been used to launch more than 500 geophysical rockets since its foundation in 1966. Plans to make it a cosmodrome, that is, a launch pad for carriers capable of putting loads into near-Earth orbit, have existed almost all this time. But there was no urgent need or suitable missiles. The recently completed modernization received funding only in 2020, against the background of a boom in small carriers from private companies.
The newly-minted cosmodrome is expected to have problems with demand. In addition to political statements, the speakers at its opening did not say anything about who will use the new launch tables. According to the SpaceNews portal, it is known that ArianeGroup will become the first client of Esrange Space Center. The French company will test a prototype of Themis, a demonstrator of reusable rocket technologies, with a jump of tens of meters. But its high-altitude launches are planned at the cosmodrome in French Guiana.
German Isar Aerospace is conducting engine tests at the Esrange test site, nevertheless, the company plans to launch its light rocket under development from Norway. The situation is similar with another German company — Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA), only the spaceport is different, SaxaVord in Scotland. Thus, who will perform the first orbital launch from the new Esrange Space Center sites at the end of 2023, as promised at their opening, is not yet clear.