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Experts offered insights into current developments of the space industry at the Space Business Forum

SpaceFinland
Publication date 27.6.2023 15.28 | Published in English on 27.6.2023 at 15.36
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Kokousosallistujia
The Space Business Forum was held for the last time before the summer break.

On Wednesday 21.6.2023 Finnish space actors met at the Team Finland house for the Space Business Forum. Business Finland had invited both Finnish and international space experts to present current developments in the space industry.

European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) representative Tomas Hrozensky opened the forum by addressing the space sector´s growing importance for the European safety and security environment. Throughout its history, the space sector has been closely intertwined with matters of safety and security. Recently, however, the safety and security dimension of the space sector has received increased attention. “The recognition of the strategic value of the space sector is growing”, comments Hrozensky. Partly, the development has been accelerated by the Starlink service, which has assumed a central role in Ukraine´s defense against Russia´s war of aggression. “The war has even been considered a space war. Personally, I wouldn´t go as far as that”, says Hrozensky. The heightened emphasis on the space sector´s strategic value also manifests in the financial markets, where space security stocks are increasingly viewed as profitable investment opportunities. 

Tomas Hrozensky (ESPI) addressed the space sector´s value for safety and security.

Hrozensky´s contribution met with great interest among the Finnish space community: “The subject is very current, as we are just about to update our own space strategy”, comments Kimmo Kanto, Head of Space at Business Finland. 

The Space Business Forum further hosted Anze Singer, representative of the European Space Agency (ESA), who familiarized the present space actors with ESA´s conventions regarding intellectual property rights (IPR). The forum also covered recent developments of the Finnish space landscape; Ari-Matti Harri, head of the Space Research and Observation Technologies Unit of the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), offered insights on the Finnish space situational awareness centre (FSSAC). The FSSAC will provide tracking capabilities of the near-Earth environment and is expected to start its operation by 2026.

Ari-Matti Harri presents the Finnish Space Situational Awareness Centre.