Proposed or active spaceports in north Europe

With the successful launch last month by Isar Aerospace of its Spectrum rocket from Norway’s Andoya spaceport, Norwegian government officials have now stated that the government plans to spend almost 650 million in Norwegian krone (about $67.45 million) to build a second orbital launchpad there.

Norway’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Cecilie Myrseth, announced the planned investment during a 30 September event hosted by Norway’s Directorate for Space Activities. Christian Hauglie-Hanssen, Director General of the Norwegian Space Agency, later said the government would allocate an initial NOK 323.3 million for the new pad in its 2027 budget proposal. The remainder of the planned amount will then be included in the government’s 2028 budget.

According to Norway’s national news agency NTB, responsibility for building the new pad will be given to Forsvarsbygg, the Norwegian Defence Estates Agency. Once built, the pad will be leased to Andøya Space, a commercial entity in which the state holds a 90% stake. Additionally, the Norwegian Armed Forces will be tasked with securing the area around the spaceport, similar to the role played by the French military at the Guiana Space Centre.

The first launchpad at Andoya is leased long term to Isar for its Spectrum rocket. Originally the plan was to find another rocket company to lease the second pad prior to construction. It now appears the government is willing to bear the cost to get the pad built and hope they can subsequently get a customer. As the first and only spaceport of the more than half dozen in this region to actually launch something — as shown on the map to the right — this strategy makes some sense. Norway’s success with Isar, combined with its commitment to build a second pad, will make it easier to convince rocket companies searching for a launch site to sign on.