Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) and South Korean rocket company Perigee Aerospace Inc. have signed a collaborative agreement to launch satellites jointly from Esrange Space Center in northern Sweden , starting 2025. Perigee’s Blue Whale 1 microlauncher will be the first-ever orbital rocket launched from Esrange.

“I’m very pleased to announce this historic collaboration, our first orbital launch partnership. The market demand for this service is huge and it’s needed now, by both European and international satellite owners. Perigee’s Blue Whale 1 rocket is an ideal match for our orbital launch complex at Esrange. With this partnership, SSC will be able to offer a competitive commercial European orbital launch service at our spaceport in Sweden. This is exciting news for us, and for the global space market,” says Charlotta Sund, CEO of SSC.

“SSC has an impressive 50 years of launch heritage and the new orbital launch infrastructure at Esrange is laying the foundation for the years to come. By bringing our Blue Whale 1 rocket, soon ready for orbital missions, we will partner with SSC to create a state-of-the-art orbital launch service, including further delivery through SSC's ground service offering. After a successful orbital launch from South Korea next year, we look forward to beginning this historic journey at Esrange,” says Yoon Shin, CEO and Founder of Perigee.

The two-stage launch vehicle has the capacity to place up to 200 kg into a 500 km Sun-Synchronous Orbit. Together, SSC and Perigee will develop a service concept with a shared payload space onboard the rocket to make room for both companies’ customer bases. Enforced by SSC’s global satellite ground station network, this service could also be supplemented by additional space-to-ground services.

Contacts: Philip Ohlsson, Head of Communications, +46 70 721 70 26, philip.ohlsson@sscspace.com;
Chuljin Kim, PR Leader, +82 10 3675 1899, cjkim@perigee.space

About SSC: Swedish Space Corporation helps Earth benefit from Space. Since the 70’s, SSC has helped space organizations, companies, other commercial actors and research institutes to get access to space. Through our local presence on all continents and close to 700 committed employees, we offer specialist expertise in satellite ground station connectivity, spacecraft operations, rocket and balloon systems, launch services, flight test services and data analytics. Among our strongest assets are Esrange Space Center in northern Sweden, set to become first to launch satellites from continental Europe in 2025, as well as our global ground station network for satellite communications: SSC Connect. https://sscspace.com/

About Perigee: Perigee aims to provide the fastest and closest opportunity for all who wants to go to space. Established in 2018, Perigee is dedicated to developing Blue Whale 1 (BW1), a small launch vehicle offering the most affordable ride for small satellites to Earth orbit. BW1 is a two-stage launch vehicle capable of placing up to 200 kg payload into a 500 km Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO). Featuring high-performance liquid methane engines, lightweight carbon fiber composite structures, and reliable flight control systems, BW1 ensures efficient launch services worldwide. https://perigee.space/