Each year, representatives from Swedish politics, academia and a variety of companies and organizations gather on the island of Gotland to meet, talk, debate – and listen. The “Almedalen Week” or “Almedalsveckan” is to many considered the most important forum for Swedish politics and policy, and as such a valuable arena for SSC. This year, it offered a chance to talk about the importance of space – in society as a whole, as well as different defence and security aspects.
Karin Holmqvist, Head of Strategy, and Peter Millar, VP of Defense and Security affairs, represented SSC at Almedalsveckan and participated in panels and roundtable discussions relating to space, security and defense.
The topics varied: One panel focused on the importance of space and how commercial capabilities can also strengthen defense and national security. The second discussed the space industry’s need for rare metals and materials in the light of today’s geopolitical situation, and the last panel offered a fruitful discussion on the future developments of space technology and the regional space community in Northern Sweden (Norrbotten). In addition, a roundtable discussion focused on the importance of satellite communications in relation to defense, also as an enabler of multi-domain operations.
For SSC, the Almedalen Week offered a chance to meet peers and colleagues from all parts of the private and public sector, and they both experienced a sense of unity in facing common challenges:
“It became clear to me that we share the ambition and willpower to work together in trying to solve the problems and challenges we face. We are all united – Industry, academia, authorities and politics – in building a resilient and competitive Swedish space capability. In addition, I believe there was a shared realization that Sweden needs to speed things up – we have no time to lose,” says Karin Holmqvist. “To SSC this means that we must continue to evolve our abilities to better serve our customers – and make sure that we continue our mission to help Earth benefit from Space.
Two of the main discussions:
- “How can we secure long-term and resilient space capabilities for the benefit of the Swedish total defense?”: https://lnkd.in/dvZ6hKB5
- “Space technology of the future – Sweden’s way forward”: https://lnkd.in/dfXc9-TN
SSC’s Karin Holmqvist, second from the right, at the panel discussion “How do we build a long-term and resilient space capability for the benefit of total defense” (Credit: SOFF)
