Space Administration Actors

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment’s space team acts as the Finnish Space Agency and sees to the coordination of the Finnish space administration. The team serves as the full-time secretariat of the Finnish Space Committee, coordinates Finland's international representation, is responsible for national legislation and participates in the development of international regulation, and ensures communication related to the Finnish space sector and policy. 

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment the licensing authority for space activities and maintains the Registry of Space Objects.

MEAE/Space 

Satellite navigation systems (GNSS) fall under the administrative branch of the Ministry of Transport and Communications in Finland. The ministry manages international cooperation, national preparation and monitoring in the sector.

The Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom acts as the licencing and regulatory authority for the use of radio frequencies concerning both space objects and the terrestrial radio transmitters controlling them. Traficom coordinates national and international frequency use and participates in international frequency management preparations, including within the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT). Additionally, Traficom serves as the licencing and regulatory authority for earth stations and certain radars.

The Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom operates under the guidance of the Ministry of Transport and Communications as the responsible authority for matters related to satellite navigation. Traficom’s key tasks include the national coordination of the development of the EU’s Galileo satellite navigation system, representing Finland in programme working groups, promoting the usability, situational awareness, cybersecurity, and societal preparedness related to GNSS systems, raising awareness of GNSS systems within Finnish society, and facilitating business opportunities for Finnish enterprises. Traficom’s National Cyber Security Centre has been designated as the national PRS authority, responsible for fulfilling the statutory obligations of Galileo’s Public Regulated Service (PRS) in Finland. The Cyber Security Centre also serves as Finland’s national representative in the Security Accreditation Board (EUSP SAB), which coordinates security management for the components of the EU Space Programme. Additionally, the Cyber Security Centre coordinates national efforts within the security working groups of each space programme component.

Contact information: Transport and Communications Agency Traficom’s space matters
Licence matters: satellites(at)traficom.fi
Galileo PRS matters: prs(at)traficom.fi

Business Finland's New Space Economy Programme provides innovation funding, networks and export services to help develop Finnish space expertise into a global business.
The New Space Economy Programme is intended for Finnish start-ups that aim to renew the growing space sector, companies in the manufacturing industry seeking growth and companies that utilise data.

The programme also funds Finnish space research.

The Finnish Meteorological Institute’s Space and Earth Observation Centre is responsible for research of polar areas and near space and the development of the technology used for the activities. The research will focus in particular on Arctic research and remote sensing, new observation methods and space. The Arctic Space Centre, which is part of the Space and Earth Observation Centre (FMI-ARC) in Sodankylä, receives satellite data and provides data and products made from it to users both in Finland and around the world.

Finnish Space Situational Awareness Center is being established in connection with the Finnish Meteorological Institute. The Center maintains a space situational picture and distributes related expert information to national authorities and other domestic actors. The Finnish Meteorological Institute's partner in the activities of the Space Situational Awareness Center is the National Land Survey of Finland.

The Space Situational Awareness Center informs and warns the authorities of disruptions or dangerous situations caused by space or space activities. These can be caused by congested near-Earth space and space weather phenomena for critical satellite services and other functions of society. Direct threats may be caused by satellite parts and other space debris hitting the Earth, as well as asteroids and comets that occasionally arrive close to Earth.

The Centre acts as a national contact point for the formation of European space situational awareness data, and works in close cooperation with the corresponding organisation in the United States (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA) and other international partners. 

The establishment of the Space Situational Awareness Center began in December 2024. Round-the-clock (24/7) service operations will begin during 2027. The aim is to provide nationally targeted space situational awareness data on a one-stop-shop basis by networking with Finnish research institutes and commercial operators.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs' Export Control acts as the permit authority for the products that the Act states are subject to supervision. Space activities may involve products, technology, services or other goods that are suitable not only for normal civilian use but also for military purposes. Dual-use products can be very different high-tech products, such as nuclear materials, special materials and associated equipment, electronics, computer equipment, telecommunications and data protection equipment, as well as sensors and lasers.

The Ministry of the Interior acts as the national contact point for secure satellite broadband programmes (GOVSATCOM and IRIS2).

The Ministry of Defence is responsible for utilising space systems for defence purposes. 

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has very diverse activities in the space sector.