Firefly Aerospace will also launch its rockets from the Esrange Space Center in Sweden

Europe wants to regain influence in the world of Space and space launches. Alongside the success of the Ariane 6 and Vega C missions from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana, there is increasing talk about the possibility of conducting launches from our continent (particularly in Northern Europe for polar and sun-synchronous orbits).

One of the latest developments concerns the American company Firefly Aerospace, which has signed an agreement with SSC Space that will lead to the first orbital launch from continental European territory, a goal that the two companies aim to achieve by 2028 from Launch Complex 3C, located within the Esrange Space Center in Sweden (this same spaceport will also host tests of Themis). Achievements to date include the construction of the initial site infrastructure, the establishment of a shared transatlantic regulatory framework, and the signing of an agreement with the FMV (Swedish Defence Materiel Administration, an agency linked to the Swedish Ministry of Defence).

A future of launches from Sweden for Firefly Aerospace.

On the infrastructure front, the launch control center, payload processing facility, rocket integration building, tracking and control systems, as well as security and storage facilities have already been completed: a complex specifically designed to support operations of Firefly Aerospace's Alpha rocket.

Jason Kim (CEO of Firefly Aerospace) emphasized that these advances represent the realization of a strategic transatlantic partnership, defining the model adopted by the company as "launch as a franchise" that offers the United States and its allies the necessary diversification of launch sites for resilient and responsive space missions.

On the regulatory front, a key milestone was the Memorandum of Cooperation signed in April 2026 between the Swedish National Space Agency and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), an agreement that simplifies the launch authorization process and establishes a shared understanding of commercial space regulations, thereby paving the way for the takeoff of U.S. rockets like Alpha from Swedish soil.

This milestone is, in turn, based on the Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA) signed between Sweden and the United States, making Sweden the sixth country in the world to have such an agreement with Washington: the TSA provides the legal framework necessary for the export of advanced U.S. space technologies to Sweden, while ensuring the protection of sensitive data and technologies involved.

Charlotta Sund (CEO and Group President of SSC Space) highlighted how the addition of orbital launch capability in continental Europe will enhance the continent's competitiveness in the commercial space sector, contributing to greater resilience and strategic autonomy in defense, and reiterated that this collaboration with Firefly Aerospace represents another step in strengthening the transatlantic bond between the two entities.