50 years Norway as a space nation 50 years as a space nation Contents Norway in space 4 Young rocket scientists on Andøya 36 First blast off 6 Leading the world in satellite communications 37 Our unknown multi-talent 10 Vital satellite navigation 42 The European road to space 13 Norway's eye in space 46 The space industry: innovative and traditional 16 At the top of the world 50 Earth watchers 20 To Mars from Svalbard 54 A place in the sun 27 Working in the space industry 58 The Norwegian northern lights pioneers 32 Europe's new time machine 60 Lasers in the night 34 CoveR PHoto: KolBJØRN DAHLE 50 years P H We are entitled to get excited now that we're celebrating oto Norway's 50th anniversary as a space nation We are : TRU entitled to be proud of the fact that the first rocket has been de E as a space nation N followed by more than a thousand others We are entitled G to be pleased with the sound scientific, commercial and societal expertise we have built up in space technology over the course of these 50 years Things have turned out very differently from what we envisaged when Ferdinand was launched in the 1960s We were very optimistic about space travel then, and many people believed that it was only a question of a few decades before we made it to Mars We envisaged a permanent set- tlement on the moon and that hotel breaks orbiting the Earth would soon become a holiday option There has been incredible development, but in a com- pletely different direction than into space What has actu- ally happened is that space technology has become com- pletely integrated in daily life – on Earth Everything from television, computer and telecommu- Norwegian space industry International agreements such nications networks to rescue services, navigation, weather as the Esrange Andøya Special Project (EASP ) are vital for forecasting and environmental monitoring depends on sat- the activities at Andøya ellites in order to function We live in a technology-based However, while major space projects will rely on more world and cannot get by without space international collaboration in the time ahead, small satel- In Norway, we were quick to realize the potential lites have, relatively speaking, become much more reason- importance of space in practical terms In addition to able This enables Norway to invest in national projects our scientific contributions to space exploration, we based on its domestic needs, of which there are plenty invested in ground-based services and the development We have a long coastline, a vulnerable environment, rich of telecommunications in the North Sea and other marine resources and a harsh climate This will be the second focus areas Over the last few decades, we have also focused on area for Norway the use of Earth observation in public administration Based on what the first fifty years have brought about in But everything has a price, and as far as space is con- terms of progress, on behalf of the Norwegian space indus- cerned, that price is often high Building large satellites is try, I am incredibly optimistic about the years ahead a costly business, and today's space industry is therefore based on international collaboration This is not least Bo N Andersen the case for a small space nation like Norway Member- Director General of the Norwegian Space Centre ship of the European Space Agency is fundamental to the NORWAY CELEBRATES 50 YEARS AS A SPACE NATION | 3 Norway in space There are more than 150 satellites containing Norwegian technology in space. The Norwegian space industry produces goods and services for about NOK 6 billion a year, and the satellites have a wide range of applications. Launchers: For many years, the Norwegian space industry has been supplying cutting-edge technology Research: Norwegian astrophysicists for the European launcher Ariane 5, are among the best in the world, launched from Kourou in French and take part in the most prestigious Guiana cosmology research projects The Planck spacecraft is one of them The Space Station: Norway has Navigation: Satellite-based made important contributions to the Earth observation: Earth observa- positioning, navigation and International Space Station for many tion is one of the most important accurate timekeeping are part of an years, through research into fields fields for the European space indus- infrastructure of great importance to such as space biology and indoor try Norway is a major consumer of society Norway is playing an active climate We now also have an instru- data from land, sea and air In the role in developing and operating ment on the station that we use for illustration, Earth observation is rep- Europe's new Galileo system In 2020, monitoring marine traffic resented by the CryoSat satellite the system will comprise 30 satellites 4 | NORWAY CELEBRATES 50 YEARS AS A SPACE NATION I LL U st R ation : TR ond ABR A H AMSEN Ground-based infra- Communication: Satellite structure: A great deal of communication accounts Andøya: The Andøya Norway's space activities for about 70% of Norwe- Rocket Range is also part take place on or from the gian space-related turno- of the Norwegian ground Northern Norway, ver Telenor (represented ground-based space Antarctica and Svalbard here by the Thor 7 satellite) infrastructure It was here are favourable locations is the biggest Norwegian that it all started in 1962 Norwegian satellite: for such activities The company involved, and Since then, the rocket AISSat-1 is the Norwegian SvalSat ground station has owns its own satellites TV range has launched over a government's first satellite, become the world's biggest broadcasting, marine com- thousand research rockets and it monitors marine commercial data down- munication and telemedi- for researchers all over the traffic It is particularly loading station cine are important areas world useful in the High North NORWAY CELEBRATES 50 YEARS AS A SPACE NATION | 5 PHoto: FFI First blast off On a summer's day 50 years ago, Norway's first research rocket took off from the grassland between the mountains of Andøya and the sea. This launched Norway into the space age. By Christer Aasen For most people, there was nothing special about Saturday 18 August 1962 Two days earlier, Ringo Starr had got a new job as the drummer for The Beatles A week later, NASA launched Mariner 2, the first space probe that would visit another planet when it passed by Venus a few months later For most people, it was just another weekend day with nothing in particular happening But on a small island fac- ing the ocean in the north of Norway, this was the day that Norway became a space nation Between 20 and 30 people were working energetically in the grassy field at the foot of the jagged peaks of Røyken, the mountains behind Oksebåsen on Andøya A few simple huts had been set up not far from the launch ramp To the west, there was ocean as far as the eye could see Most of the people were working for the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) Journalists and photo graphers were making sure they were ready to capture the moment The multi-talented Odd Dahl was there too High and low Tightening screws, testing, measuring and weighing Anders Omholt of the University of Oslo's Department of Physics, was also watching the preparations ‘Dahl was the prime mover during the fine-tuning and the launch He was the one who felt responsible and in real- ity was in charge of the launch,’ says Anders Omholt, 50 years later Everyone on Andøya that day was composed, yet tense There were no back-up instruments if anything were to go wrong There was no money for things like that The Norwegian authorities had approved the construction of Andøya Rocket Range and the creation of a plan for the Norwegian space industry, but was reluctant to spend money The Norwegian space activity was a political hot potato NORWAY CELEBRATES 50 YEARS AS A SPACE NATION | 7 When Ferdinand 1 was launched, became of interest to the armed forces, Finn Lied was summoned to the office Anders Omholt did not think that this but it was also of financial importance of Nils Handal, Minister of Defence, would be the start of Norway's road to the fisheries and shipping where he was told that ‘space belongs into space Almost 50 Norwegian researchers to Our Lord’. Anyone with visions of ‘I thought that now we had to suc- and engineers were working in Eng- Norwegian astronauts and long journeys ceed, if we were to have any kind of land during the war One of them was to unknown galactic shores was quickly Norwegian space activity ' Finn Lied, a man who would come to brought back down to Earth Ever since The Andøya Rocket Range of today have a great deal of influence on the then, the Norwegian space activities has is quite a different story, and just part direction that the Norwegian space primarily been about utility Its technol- of the evidence showing that what activity would take Lied eventually ogy should serve mankind and be useful Omholt hoped for came true But we became the second director of the to the Norwegian people have to go back to the war to see how it Norwegian Defence Research Estab- In a meeting of the Royal Norwegian all really started lishment (FFI) Council for Scientific and Industrial The Second World War had demon- As the cold war became colder, the Research (NTNF) in January 1960, the strated that radio communication was areas of the High North became stra- decision was made to establish a space an extremely important military tool, tegically more important for both the research committee The committee and at the end