The Swedish Armed Forces (Försvarsmakten) have announced that they have, for the first time ever, launched a Swedish military reconnaissance and surveillance satellite into orbit. The launch took place on Sunday, 3 May, and will, according to the Swedish Armed Forces, give Sweden an enhanced capability to analyse threats globally.
The launch takes place within the framework of the Swedish Armed Forces' space programme, under which Sweden is to expand its presence in space. The satellite launched on Sunday is the first of approximately ten planned over the coming years, according to a press release from the Swedish Armed Forces.
"Our expansion in the space domain has progressed at record speed. We now have a national capability and our own systems in place in space. This gives us a better picture of our area of operations, including hard-to-monitor areas such as the Arctic, and areas we were previously unable to monitor," says the Swedish Armed Forces' Head of Space, Commodore Anders Sundeman, in the press release.
The satellite is manufactured by the company Planet Labs, is capable of capturing high-resolution imagery from low Earth orbit, and was launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. At the same time, the Air Staff's space division has begun work to establish a Space Operations Centre. The new operations command centre will strengthen the Swedish Armed Forces' space capability by enabling the production of a consolidated space situational awareness picture and the command of the authority's satellites.
Major General Jonas Wikman, Chief of the Swedish Air Force, commented on the milestone on social media:
"Today, the Swedish Armed Forces enter the next phase of establishing capabilities in space. Personnel, satellites, a command centre, and infrastructure are increasing the capacity for situational awareness and multi-domain warfare," he wrote on X.
Colonel Carl "Wiseman" Bergqvist, Commander of the Air Warfare School (Luftstridsskolan), also commented on the development:
"A small step for the world, but a very significant step for Swedish defence capability. Beyond all the other opportunities this offers in terms of intelligence gathering, it is also a vital part of the functional chain for long-range strike against targets deep within enemy territory," he wrote on X.
In January 2025, the Ministry of Defence announced that Sweden had, just under six months earlier, launched a first satellite into space. That satellite was described as a test and trial project in preparation for future satellite launches.
According to the Swedish Armed Forces, the space programme has been established more quickly than the previously set target of 2030. This is due in part to close cooperation with the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) and the involvement of the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI), according to the press release.