Norway Archives

2015 – Sounding Rockets – Snapshot

NASA’s Sounding Rockets Program Office (SRPO) launches sounding rockets from locations such as Andøya, Norway; Esrange, Sweden; Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands; Poker Flats, Alaska; White Sands, New Mexico; and Wallops Island, Virginia. The suborbital nature of the sounding rockets makes them ideal platforms to conduct short near-Earth space science, astrophysics, and heliophysics experiments, as well as for testing new sensors and other burgeoning space technologies. SRPO arranges workshops with primary and secondary school teachers and provides internships to university students to familiarize them with engineering and science disciplines.

2015 – European Space Industry Employment – Snapshot

Data on the European space workforce is collected annually via surveys by Eurospace, an association of the European space manufacturing industry. The survey focuses on design, development, and…

2011 – Iran, Sea Launch – Snapshot

Two other space programs made news in 2011, as space newcomer Iran successfully conducted ## launch and the multinational commercial venture Sea Launch resumed operations after a hiatus of nearly two and a half years.

What Danger Floes Beneath the Satellites?

The Norwegian Coast Guard finds satellite imagery vital for identifying the exact location of icebergs and ice floes in order to protect ship traffic. Kongsberg Satellite Services provides satellite imagery of the Arctic Ocean captured by ESA’s Envisat satellite and Canada’s RADARSAT-1 satellite.

2009 – European Space Industry Employment – Snapshot

By 2008, European space employment reached ## full-time equivalent (FTE) employees, which remains ##% lower than the near-historic high in 2001, when employment totaled approximately ## jobs with ##% annual growth. Space employment fell each year from 2002 to 2005, including a ##% decrease in 2005 when space employment fell to ## FTE employees. Beginning in 2006, growth resumed, with ##% employment growth in 2008.

Tagging Disaster Areas in Satellite Imagery

Scandicraft, a Norwegian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) service provider, has developed a system that “geotags,” or marks the physical location of, aerial images from a disaster area and uploads the images via satellite link within minutes.

2005 – ISS

The largest in-space platform ever constructed is the International Space Station (ISS). “Led by the United States, the ISS draws upon the scientific and technological resources of 16 nations: Canada, Japan, Russia, 11 nations of the European Space Agency [Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom], and Brazil,” according to NASA.