NordSpace Research Project

Over the last decade, a rapidly increasing number of public and private actors are seeking a place in the exclusive ‘space club’. Private bodies and states - including the Nordic countries - are developing launch sites in the Arctic region. The development of the space sector has historically been only of marginal interest to countries in the High North. The increasing political focus and economic inputs into the sector therefore mark a strategic shift that brings potential ramifications for governance, sustainable development, and security. There is currently little understanding of how the development of space infrastructures in the High North affects security and environmental politics and practices, and what the consequences are for the Arctic region. The NordSpace project will address this knowledge gap. Researchers will systematically study the intersection of space activities with environmental and security politics in three lesser-known space nations in the Nordic region: Norway, Sweden, and Iceland. An interdisciplinary team of researchers will combine qualitative network analysis, ethnographic and visual methods, as well as discourse analysis to provide nuanced empirical knowledge on the economic activities, governance frameworks, and ambitions of the three countries in the context of their attempts to gain global recognition as spacefaring nations. The impacts of these activities on geopolitical constellations and on local environments in the Arctic region will be analyzed.