Norwegian-Dutch nanosatellites successfully launched

1 minute read

Two Norwegian-Dutch nanosatellites were successfully launched today. “Birkeland” and “Huygens” were placed in orbit around the earth by the company SpaceX. MilSpace2 is a cooperation project between the Netherlands Ministry of Defence, the Norwegian Ministry of Defence, the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI), the Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR) and the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO).

Defence Vision 2035 states that space has become a crucial link in the information-driven operations of the armed forces. The defence organisation is very dependent on satellites, for example for navigation and communication systems.

This is the second time that the Netherlands Ministry of Defence has launched satellites. It is therefore implementing Defence Vision 2035.

The satellites, each of which is not much larger than six one-litre cartons of milk, each measuring approximately 30x20x10 cm, are named after Norwegian physicist Kristian Olaf Birkeland and the Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens.

MilSpace

More information

Here you can read a previous news item: https://www.nlr.org/news/norwegian-dutch-research-mission-for-radar-signals/.

Strategic mutual assistance in research and technology (SMART), military use of space (MilSpace) and cooperation in science and technology are elements of the bilateral agreement between the ministries of defence of the Netherlands and Norway.

The project team that is acting on behalf of the two ministries consists of the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI), the Royal Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR) and the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO).

For additional information,

please also visit the website of the NLR programme Future air & space power.


Latest news

28 July 2025

Knowledge institutions join forces for integrated research  

Our society is increasingly facing far-reaching social and economic challenges, such as the nitrogen issue, pressure on land and water space, safety and health issues, and the vulnerability of vital infrastructure. DigiLab Applied Knowledge provides the technical infrastructure needed to address these challenges by fostering collaboration between different knowledge domains and integrating data and models […]
Safety and Human performance

09 July 2025

Effectiveness of flight time limitations for aircrew members

Fatigue among aircrew members is a critical safety concern in aviation, as it can compromise alertness, attention, and decision-making abilities, potentially leading to accidents and incidents. To address this issue, regulatory bodies such as the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) have implemented rules governing flight duty time limitations and rest requirements for aircrew members. To […]