Swedish National Space Agency

Background The nation of Sweden's space activities predate the establishment of SNSA by several decades; a key early milestone was the founding of the Kiruna Geophysical Observatory (KGO) during July 1957, which had been preceded by over a decade of appeals and negotiations by members of the Swedish scientific community. In 1959, the Swedish Space Research Committee (SSRC) was founded to pursue three primary objectives: the development of a national space programme, to ensure Swedish engagement with international projects, and to handle a prospective launch site for sounding rockets. Another particularly high-profile event was the launch of the first Swedish astronaut, Christer Fuglesang, into space during December 2006. == Satellite missions ==

• Viking (1986−1987), to explore plasma processes in the magnetosphere and the ionosphere • Freja (1992−1996), a second space physics mission • Astrid 1 (1995), microsatellite for space physics • Astrid 2 (1998–1999), microsatellite for space physics • Odin (2001−present), Swedish-Canadian-Finnish-French satellite for astronomy and atmospheric chemistry • Prisma (2010−present), technology test of constellation flight • Mats (2019), investigating atmospheric waves == Director-Generals ==