Located in Kiruna, in Swedish Lapland, Spaceport Sweden is being developed at Kiruna Airport which will be a hybrid for air and space travel as well as for learning adventures, education and research.[1]
Swedish Minister for Enterprise and Communication Maud Olofsson inaugurated the project as a national initiative in 2007.[not verified in body] The current CEO of the spaceport is Karin Nilsdotter.[1]
History
The official inauguration of the company was made on 26 January 2007 and the company started off by signing an agreement with Virgin Galactic. The agreement stated that the two would be working together towards an operational agreement whereby Spaceport Sweden would be the first spaceport outside the United States which Virgin Galactic could use for flight campaigns.[citation needed]
On 3 April 2008, a press conference was held in Kiruna, and a number of astronauts in training were presented to the press, but details of an agreement, if any, were not released.[2]
In February 2012, Spaceport Sweden hoped to have operational flights of SpaceShipTwo by 2015.[3]
In 2012, Spaceport Sweden launched an initiative to offer learning adventures and spaceflight preparation providing the opportunity to explore more about the aurora borealis through northern light flights in Kiruna. Further, in collaboration with QinetiQ, a 2-day spaceflight preparation program is provided using a long-arm centrifuge and hypobaric chamber to simulate and prepare for the upcoming spaceflights.
In 2013, Spaceport Sweden initiated a limited offering of weightless flight experiences, in collaboration with AirZeroG and Novespace in France, to private individuals using a specially outfitted Airbus A300 capable of simulating a short-duration zero-gravity environment.[4]
