Sovereign systems are all the rage in Europe. Countries on the continent are spending like mad to increase their own space defense capabilities by buying nationally run satellites, setting up sovereign launch services, and boosting local industrial capacity.
This week’s announcement from the Swedish Armed Forces—that it would be allocating 1.3B Swedish Kronor (€121.4M) to purchase 10 surveillance satellites, split between Planet and ICEYE—seems like more of the same.
However, officials from the Swedish Armed Forces told Payload that the move is not just to shore up local defenses.
“The Swedish Armed Forces need the ability for our situational awareness in all domains,” Therese Aakerstedt, head of comms for the Swedish Air Force, told Payload via email. “It is in response to the security situation, and a resource for NATO also.”
Same page: Last year, NATO allies agreed to boost their defense budgets in response to growing geopolitical tensions in the region. And Sweden has wasted no time putting its money to work.
This week’s investment more than doubles the 1B Kronor (€93M) the Swedish government allocated to the nation’s military in October 2024, specifically to develop the country’s space capability by 2032.
The increase demonstrates two key shifts:
- Rising geopolitical tensions in the region have forced governments to rework their budgets;
- Governments are leaning more on the commercial space industry to field capabilities quickly.
The Swedish Armed Forces previously set a goal of fielding operational satellites in orbit by 2030, but this week’s announcement pushes forward the timeline significantly, with the first batch of sovereign EO sats expected to fly this year.
Offensive measures: This week, the Swedish government announced plans to invest 15B Kronor (€1.4B) to shore up its air defenses. Though the investments boost military capabilities on opposite sides of the Karman line, they go hand-in-hand.
EO satellites don’t just keep a watchful eye on the borders. Aakerstedt explained that data from Planet and ICEYE sats can be used to guide the country’s long-range weapons systems, namely the German-Swedish Taurus Systems air launched cruise missiles that have a 500+ km range.
