Mainland Europe’s pursuit of sovereign orbital access took a major leap forward as Swedish state-owned space company SSC Space and American launch provider Firefly Aerospace lock in a firm 2028 target for the first orbital launch from Sweden’s Esrange Space Center.
The joint timeline was unveiled during a press briefing in Stockholm on June 30. The announcement follows a flurry of critical industrial, financial, and regulatory breakthroughs, including major infrastructure completions at Esrange’s Launch Complex 3C (LC-3C), a specialized $21.5 million (SEK 209 million) Swedish military contract, and a landmark bilateral regulatory pact signed between the United States and Sweden.
Overcoming the Transatlantic Regulatory Hurdle
Launching American rocket technology from foreign soil historically triggers dense, multi-year ITAR and export-control backlogs. To bypass these administrative bottlenecks, the Swedish National Space Agency (SNSA) and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently signed a Memorandum of Cooperation designed to directly streamline dual-nation launch licensing.
The agreement leverages a highly exclusive Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA) signed between Washington and Stockholm; making Sweden one of only six nations globally trusted with such a pact to protect sensitive U.S. rocket architecture.
“Today we’re celebrating the realization of critical transatlantic partnerships that are enabling Firefly’s global launch expansion strategy, starting in Sweden…We’re proud to partner with SSC Space and work collaboratively with U.S. and Swedish agencies to provide European customers with a dedicated orbital launch capability using our flight-proven Alpha rocket.”
– Jason Kim, CEO of Firefly Aerospace
“Launch as a Franchise” Meets the Arctic Circle
The Swedish partnership serves as the debut operational footprint for Firefly’s new “launch as a franchise” business model. Rather than investing capital to build, own, and operate foreign sites from scratch, Firefly licenses its hardware and vehicle technology to established international launch facility operators. The company is currently evaluating a mirroring franchise infrastructure deal with Space Cotan at the Hokkaido Spaceport in Japan.
Firefly Alpha Rocket Performance Profiles
- Current Flight Track Record: 7 Total Flights (Most recent Flight 7 successfully validated key upgrades from Vandenberg, California, on March 11, 2026).
- Next Evolution:Flight 8, debuting the enhanced Block II configuration featuring consolidated in-house avionics, an expanded payload fairing, and automated carbon-composite structures, is slated for late summer 2026.
- Launch Corridors:Operational missions currently operate out of Vandenberg, with East Coast complexes under development at Wallops Island, Virginia, and the international expansion at Esrange.
Esrange sits approximately 200 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle. This extreme northern geography makes it an elite location for launching into highly sought-after sun-synchronous and polar orbits. Rocket trajectories departing from LC-3C will head north and northeast over Norway and the Barents Sea, executing a minor dogleg maneuver to safely navigate around the city of Tromsø.
Military Backing and Infrastructure Completion
On-site construction at LC-3C has rapidly matured over the last year. SSC Space confirmed that the mission control center, payload processing suites, vehicle integration bays, tracking nodes, and safety storage yards are fully complete. Final fabrication is currently concentrated strictly on the launch mount and ground support fluid equipment.
The initial manifest anchor is the Swedish military. SSC Space secured a SEK 209 million capability-building contract with the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration (FMV). The agreement establishes a direct, independent pipeline for the Swedish Armed Forces to rapidly deploy its own tactical defense satellites from domestic soil using Firefly’s Alpha launcher.
“Adding an orbital launch capability to mainland Europe will strengthen the continent’s capabilities and competitiveness in the commercial space arena, while contributing to greater resilience and strategic autonomy within the defense domain,”
– Charlotta Sund, CEO and Group President of SSC Space.
Geopolitical Friction: The Looming EU Space Act
While U.S. and Swedish diplomatic officials lauded the partnership, the press briefing highlighted potential regulatory crosswinds brewing within the European Union. Viraj LeBailley, U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission, openly flagged concerns regarding a forthcoming EU Space Act currently floating through Brussels, warning that protectionist provisions could inadvertently choke out non-EU launch providers operating on European territory.
“Partners like the United States and Sweden must not let regulations have unintended negative consequences for the tremendous potential of the space sector,”
– Viraj LeBailley, U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission
While the EU Space Act remains in its early legislative draft cycles, both SSC and Firefly confirmed they are pressing forward aggressively to preserve their 2028 operational target.