Swedish state-owned space services company SSC Space has entered a partnership with Finnish ground station operator NorthBase, extending Nordic coverage and reinforcing service availability for present and future satellite missions. The deal will see SSC incorporate NorthBase's NorthBase-2 Muonio ground station at 68°N in Finnish Lapland as a partner site within its network, offering additional capacity to customers worldwide.
The collaboration deepens Swedish-Finnish cooperation and strengthens Nordic space capabilities in what both parties describe as an increasingly security-focused operating environment. Carl-Johan Linér, interim president for the connect business at SSC Space, stated that the partnership is an important step in a context where space is increasingly driven by defense and resilience needs, making such collaboration even more relevant.
Both companies frame the arrangement as a foundation for future commercial agreements supporting a widening portfolio of missions and services for commercial and institutional customers. NorthBase founder and CEO Dr. Tommi Rasila emphasized the creation of enhanced coverage and operational flexibility for Nordic, European, and global interests.
NorthBase, founded in 2019, offers ground-station-as-a-service solutions serving VHF, UHF, S-, X-, and Ka-band connectivity. The firm joined Michigan-based ATLAS Space Operations' Freedom Network last year, adding Muonio to the NATO portfolio of stations. In the same year, Tokyo-based GSaaS provider Infostellar also added the Muonio site to its StellarStation network.
SSC Space recently completed a mission launching twelve scientific experiments from nine nations from Estrange Space Center aboard one of its SubOrbital Express-5 rockets to study microgravity effects, financed by the European Space Agency. Express-5 is a sounding rocket, unable to reach the heights of low-Earth orbit, setting it apart from rockets capable of positioning satellites. In a recent blog post titled "the microgravity 'goldrush'," SSC Space suggested its suborbital program held unique possibilities to elevate research, citing microgravity's potential for advancing protein crystallization in pharmaceuticals.
Sentiments on the strategic importance of ground stations have grown more severe in Europe following Liberation Day, with debates about European sovereignty intensifying. In January, French satellite operator Eutelsat announced the cancellation of the sale of its ground station infrastructure following intervention by the French Government. The nation's minister of economy, finance, industrial energy, and digital sovereignty described the antennas up for sale as strategic infrastructure.
The Nordic partnership unfolds against this backdrop of tightening government control over space infrastructure across the continent. Dr. Rasila previously stated that there is very little interference and lots of room in Finnish Lapland, and visibility from 68 degrees north is very good, underscoring the geographic advantages that have attracted multiple global operators to the Muonio site.
The deepening collaboration between SSC Space and NorthBase signals a broader realignment in European space services, where sovereign concerns and alliance structures increasingly shape commercial partnerships. As defense and resilience requirements drive demand, Nordic operators are positioning themselves at the intersection of commercial scalability and strategic national infrastructure, a posture reflected in NorthBase's participation in NATO-aligned networks and SSC's state ownership model.