The Space Economy at a Glance 2026

Norway has been active in space through ESA membership since 1987, with capabilities shaped by its geography and national needs, notably in satellite communications, earth observation, navigation, maritime monitoring and Arctic services. Its high-latitude infrastructure is an important asset, including Svalbard ground stations for polar-orbiting satellites and Galileo, and Andøya, which has supported sounding-rocket activities since 1962. Norwegian firms have contributed equipment to several ESA and US missions, while recent orbital activity has been led by Space Norway, a wholly state-owned company responsible for safety-critical space infrastructure. Its Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission provides high-elliptical-orbit connectivity for the Norwegian Armed Forces, the US Space Force and Viasat, extending broadband coverage in the High North. Commercial momentum has increased with the opening of Andøya Spaceport in 2023, positioned as a European launch site for small and medium-sized satellites, with Isar Aerospace as an early launch customer.

Norway also supports space entrepreneurship through ESA BIC Norway, launched in 2018 and operating through a national network of incubator partners. In June 2026, Norway ranked 23rd globally in satellite ownership and 29th for satellites launched since 2019.

In 2025, Norway’s civilian government space budget reached USD 164.8 million (NOK 1 713) million, which is similar to recent years in real terms (Figure 5.24). Contributions to the European Space Agency and European Union programmes represent the bulk of the budget but national activities are on the rise, including both orbital and terrestrial infrastructure. The 2023 budget spike refers to an equity injection in Space Norway to purchase Telenor’s geostationary telecommunications satellites. In 2024 the two satellites in the Arctic Broadband Satellite mission were launched, jointly operated with the US Department of Defence and Inmarsat/Viasat. As noted in the introduction, a commercial spaceport was opened in 2023 in the northern part of Norway.

According to Norway’s latest key figures report, conducted in 2022-23, Norwegian companies generated NOK 11 billion in revenues with a commercial workforce of 2 200 in 2021, including 138 actors with activities in the space sector. Activity was oriented towards satellite operations and data/signal exploitation. The sector relies heavily on exports (81% average export rate) and is concentrated –top-5 actors accounted for more than 70% of revenues. Employment was concentrated in the southern and northern parts of Norway. It is worth noting the strategic and economic importance of the Svalsat ground station for satellite communications in the Svalbard archipelago. It is the world’s northernmost and biggest polar satellite ground station and had more than 150 antennas from public and private space organisations in 2025.

Norway’s space-related production of scientific documents [hereafter ‘space literature’] is characterised by high level international collaboration, with close to 70% of annual production internationally co-authored (Figure 5.25). Fractional counts for 2024 were higher than 2018 levels but lower than those in 2019-23. Controlled for population, Norway produces at OECD average levels. In terms of excellence, the share of domestic literature that is in the top-10 percentile for citations increased between 2017 and 2024 but is below the OECD average. Norway’s normalised citation score, comparing citation patterns within specific scientific fields, also ranked below the world average in the All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) categories “earth and planetary sciences”, “physics and astronomy” and “engineering”.

Based on data in the OECD Development Assistance Committee Creditor Reporting System database, Norway is one of the top contributors of space-related official development assistance (Figure 5.26). Norway committed 96.6 million constant US dollars over the 2010-23 period, mainly to environmental protection. A significant share is related to the Norwegian International Climate and Forest Initiative's investments in satellite-based monitoring of tropical forests, including the Satellite Data Programme launched in 2020.

[3] McDowell, J. (2026), Jonathan’s Space Report, https://www.planet4589.org/index.html (accessed on 23 June  2026).

[2] OECD (2026), STI Micro-data Lab: Intellectual Property Database, http://oe.cd/ipstats (accessed on  June 2026).

[1] OECD (2025), Creditor Reporting System (CRS), database, https://data-explorer.oecd.rg.

[4] The Norwegian Space Agency (NOSA) (2023), Key Figures Estimates for the Norwegian Space Sector 2023, https://romdirektoratet.ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com/documents/N%C3%B8kkeltall-for-norsk-romvirksomhet/Norsk-rom%C3%B8konomi-2021.pdf.