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The long-standing collaboration between Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) and China will soon end. On Monday, the state-owned space company announced that it will not enter into new commercial contracts with Chinese customers. Nor will existing contracts be extended.
The satellite dishes from the Swedish space base Esrange have been used for Chinese customers by the Swedish space company SSC. But now the collaboration must end. Stock Photography.
– Most of these contracts were concluded in the early 2000s. A lot has happened in China and in the world since then. In light of this, we see that it has become more difficult for us to predict the Chinese market, says Anni Bölenius, SSC communications manager to TT.
The agreements made will be honored, but according to Bölenius no new contracts will be signed.
The collaboration includes satellite data from the Esrange space base in Kiruna, where civil ground observations and meteorological data have been shared with Chinese clients.
China has also rented a number of satellite dishes in Esrange.
– Esrange is one of the largest ground stations in the world and then you can rent antennas. It is quite common in the space market. Chinese customers have three antennas there, but we have control over how they are used, says Bölenius.
TT: Has criticism influenced your decision not to sign new contracts?
– As a company, we always make evaluations when we enter into commercial contracts. We have now analyzed the long-term prospects of continuing in the Chinese market. It is such a complex world and development that we find it more difficult to act on it, says Anni Bölenius.
