The Finnish government propose funding for the establishment of a National Space Situational Awareness Centre. The establishment of the centre contributes to Finland’s overall security; it improves national crisis resilience, critical infrastructure maintenance and security of supply, and cyber security.
The National Space Situational Awareness Centre operates in a decentralized manner: a civilian command center will be established for the Meteorological Institute in cooperation with the National Land Survey of Finland, and a military command center will be established in connection with the Defense Forces. Both command centers operate independently, but in close cooperation. The implementation of the center utilizes current authority tasks and structures.
The establishment of the center will begin in December 2024. It will reach full operational readiness in 2028.
The National Space Situational Awareness Centre produces situational information about space for other authorities
The National Space Situational Awareness Centre monitors and predicts potential danger and disturbance situations caused by the space environment, so that these can be prepared for and reacted to in order to secure the functioning of society.
Everyday functions of society, such as data communication, remote mapping and positioning, weather and environment monitoring, air traffic, and observation of nearby areas, which is important for security, need services based on satellite systems. The trouble-free operation of these services is threatened by various near-space phenomena, such as space weather disturbances and collisions between satellites and space debris. In addition, space debris falling to Earth and asteroids coming close to Earth can cause dangerous situations on Earth, which the Space Situation Center anticipates and informs about.
“Currently, no authority in Finland observes and monitors disturbances and dangerous situations in space and space operations in a coordinated manner. When the National Space Situational Awareness Centre is operational, it produces and distributes targeted space situation information to the Defense Forces, other authorities, companies critical to security of supply, universities, research institutes and citizens,” says the head of the research unit, Ari-Matti Harri from the Finnish Meteorological Institute.
International cooperation is a close part of the National Space Situational Awareness Centre’s operations
The National Space Situational Awareness Centre starts producing a space situation picture in cooperation with the EU, Finland’s partner countries and international organizations responsible for space surveillance. The situational picture is improved with our own national observations and analyses, and refined into services that are distributed to different actors.
The Defense Forces produces a space situational picture for military needs. This requires cooperation between international partners as well as domestic operators. The National Space Situational Awareness Centre effectively combines the resources of both the Defense Forces and the civilian side to develop the national space situation capability.
“The space situation picture is a very central part of the situational awareness of the Defense Forces. The importance of space as a military operating environment has grown considerably and it is practically linked to the operations of every branch of defense and the institutions under the General Staff. This requires a wide-ranging understanding of the meaning of space, as well as further new know-how and new abilities in the future,” states Air Force Commander Juha-Pekka Keränen.
An important part of the Space Situation Center’s operations is cooperation with the EU’s space surveillance system. Finland joined the EU’s SST consortium (Space Surveillance and Tracking) under the leadership of the Finnish Meteorological Institute in autumn 2022, with the Land Surveying Institute as a partner.
“EU SST tracks near-space objects and offers services to prevent collisions between satellites and space debris, and analyzes and predicts the orbits and fragmentation of near-space objects,” says Hannu Koivula, head of department at the National Land Survey of Finland.
Finland’s national space situation monitoring makes it possible to apply for research funding aimed at space situation awareness from the EU and the European Space Agency. At the same time, new opportunities are created for business, research and the development of high-quality technology.
The steering group recommended the establishment of the National Space Situational Awareness Centre
In the winter of 2022–2023, the national benefits of the establishment of the National Space Situational Awareness Centre were analyzed by a steering group that included, in addition to the Ministry of Transport and Communications, representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Labor and Economy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance.
The goal of the steering group’s work was to form a common understanding of the ministries on the establishment of a national space situation center. The steering group’s secretariat was from the Meteorological Institute, and its work was supported by permanent experts appointed to the steering group from the National Land Survey of Finland and the Defense Forces. In its report, the steering group recommended the establishment of a space situation center.
More information:
Prof. Ari-Matti Harri, head of the Space Reasearch and Observation Technologies unit, ari-matti.harri@fmi.fi
Dr. Tiera Laitinen, head of the Space Weather Group, tiera.laitinen@fmi.fi
Prof. Jouni Pulliainen, Director of the Space and Earth Observation Centre, jouni.pulliainen@fmi.fi
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