Finland joins NASA’s Artemis Accords and secures millions in ESA funding for space technology development

Aalto University is hosting the new space event Winter Satellite Workshop at Dipoli building in Otaniemi, Espoo from Tuesday to Thursday 21-23 January for the seventh time. Today at the conference, the European Space Agency (ESA) launched the Phi-Lab Finland innovation programme and Finland joined the US space agency NASA’s Artemis Accords.

Developed and funded by the European Space Agency (ESA), the Phi-Lab consortium aims to commercialise space technology. In Finland, the consortium is coordinated by Aalto University, with the participation of the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the National Land Survey of Finland and the University of Vaasa. According to Tomi Erho, Director of Innovation Services at Aalto University, Head of Innovation Ecosystem Services at Aalto University, the consortium will support the selected projects financially, but especially with research expertise and infrastructure.

‘The projects selected for ESA Phi-Lab Finland will focus in particular on remote sensing technologies and environmental monitoring applications, as well as the development of navigation technologies. In these areas the Finnish space sector has rapidly developed into an international leader, and there is also a big commercial opportunity in Finland,’ says Erho.

The European Space Agency (ESA) is providing €5.2 million in funding for this six-year project, of which €4.4 million will go directly to financial support for selected projects. The total budget of the activity is around €11 million and is supported by ESA, the Technology Industries of Finland Centennial Foundation, the KAUTE Foundation and the Weisell Foundation. The first round of applications will begin shortly on the programme website. 

Finland joins Moon and Mars agreement

Today Finland has joined NASA's Artemis Accords to operate on the Moon and Mars. The agreement commits to a common set of rules for operating in outer space, including the Moon, comets and asteroids, and in the orbits of the Moon and Earth all the way to Mars.

‘There is a lot going on in the space sector at the moment, which is reflected in the wide range of programmes at the conference. The sector is growing and the need for experts is increasing. Finland is updating its space strategy, which is a big deal for the growing business sector and will enable the development of new innovations for more sustainable space activities,’ says Professor Jaan Praks, chairman of the event.

More than 40 companies and institutions will present themselves at the event. The programme will include more than 300 presentations and many workshops, meetings and an exhibition. See the full programme at: spaceworkshop.fi