Space Industries - a visit to Norway for Estonian and Latvian companies on space
The space trip delegation consisted of 22 representatives of ministries, innovation agencies and companies in the space industries. They visited the central actors on space in Norway to hear about the latest developments in Norwegian space industry, including Andøya Space, Newspace North, Kongsberg Space Electronics, Kjeller Innovation and the Space Incubator, the Norwegian Space Centre and the Norwegian Industrial Forum for Space Activities (NIFRO).
The aim of all of this was to boost cooperation on space industry between Norway and the Baltics, also with a view to partnerships for Horizon Europe, the European Defence Fund, the future EEA and Norway Grants or other funding schemes in Europe.
Norwegian-Baltic Cooperation on Space
The visit established good contact between space industry actors, companies and suppliers in the industries. The visiting companies pitches innovative solutions that will benefit the sector in each of the countries involved. It was useful to exchange experience, expertise and knowledge on space industry in Norway and in the Baltics, especially seeing that the industry relies on state-of-the-art equipment and the forefront of research and development.
The Baltic participants at the trip heard about the experience with cooperation in hubs and clusters, discussed developments in each country, in Europe and NATO, especially in investments, policy and priorities as well as ambitions for cooperation and business and learnt about ongoing projects in Europe. The potential for cooperation between Norway and the Baltics in this industry is large. Innovation Norway and our partners in innovation agencies in Estonia and Latvia are eager to follow up on the contacts made during the trip to kick-start cooperation.
Participants
All the companies from Estonia and Latvia are innovative actors in the space industries who are interested in cooperation with Norway.
The participants from Estonia included:
Head of Space, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications in Estonia
The participants from Latvia included:
The Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA)
The Norwegian Embassy in Riga
SIA Viratec – a spin-off of the Space Centre Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Centre (VIRAC)
SIA ZINOO
Programme
The programme included visits to the major actors on space industries in Norway, including:
Andøya Space, with presentations on Newspace North and Andøya Spaceport
Innovation Norway's Office in Bodø and the work on space industries
Kongsberg Space Electronics
Kjeller Innovation with presentations of the Space Incubator
Norwegian Space Centre
The Norwegian Industrial Forum for Space Activities (NIFRO)
The Norway Grants in Estonia and Latvia
Norway supports programmes on Business Development, Innovation and SMEs in Estonia and Latvia. The programmes aim to increase the competitiveness of businesses with a focus on green ICT and innovation. They also aim to increase cooperation with Norway, in projects funded and with bilateral activities.