Bilateral Cooperation
Finland's international cooperation related to space activities is extremely varied in nature. There is a great deal of cooperation at project level even though there are governmental agreements with only a few countries. Finland has an outer space and moon agreement with the UN, a remote sensing image agreement with Canada, and a research and technology agreement with Russia. The memberships of different international organizations, such as ESA and EUMETSAT, also open up new possibilities for bilateral cooperation with different countries.
Cooperation with ESA Countries
The Netherlands
The Dutch Agency for Aerospace Programmes (Nederlands Instituut voor Vliegtuigontwikkeling en Ruimtevaart, NIVR) is a semi-governmental non-profit organization. It aims to advance aviation and space activities in the Netherlands. The Ministry of Economic Affairs (Ministerie Van Economische Zaken) is in charge of the country's technology and space policies. Space policy is discussed in the Interdepartmental Committee for Space Policy (Interdepartmentale Commissie Ruimtevaart, ICR), comprising ministries with an interest in space policy. The Netherlands have been cooperating with Finland since the beginning of the 1990s. The EOS-Aura project is an example of such cooperation.
Belgium
The Belgian Federal Science Policy Office, or the former 'Federal Office for Scientific, Technical and Cultural Affairs' (OSTC), represents the country in ESA. Belgium cooperates with Finland at project level, in initiatives such as GOMOS.
Spain
The Spanish Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (El Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial, CDTI) has represented Spain in ESA since 1986. Spain cooperates with Finland through projects such as ERNE (SOHO).
Ireland
Enterprise Ireland represents the country in ESA. Ireland has cooperated with Finland at project level in initiatives such as ERNE/SOHO.
United Kingdom
The British National Space Centre, BNSC, coordinates the financing of the space activities of eleven ministries and their institutes. Through the BNSC, the United Kingdom invests £190 million in civilian space activities on a yearly basis. 60% of this is directed to ESA's program payments. Finnish companies have common ESA projects with BNSC through unrestricted competition but the United Kingdom has no government-level cooperation with Finland.
Italy
Italy's space organization, L'Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI), was founded in 1988. It functions under the Ministry of the Universities and of Scientific and Technological Research. Italy has cooperated with Finland since the late 1980s, for example, in the HASI and radio altimeter implementation of the Huygens probe.
Austria
The Austrian space organization was merged with a larger technological financing organization in 2004. This organization represents the country in ESA. Austria cooperates with Finland at project level in initiatives such as ERNE/SOHO.
Norway
The Norwegian Space Centre (Norsk Romsenter) is a foundation that closely cooperates with the Ministry of Education (Kirke-, utdannings- og Forskningsdepartementet), which also functions as Norway's space administration institute. Norway mainly cooperates with Finland through the exchange of satellite images.
France
The French space organization, Centre National d'Etudes spatiales (CNES), is the EU's largest national space organization. It was founded in 1961 and has its headquarters in Paris. France has cooperated with Finland since the mid 1980s in the fields of space science and remote sensing, in projects such as SOHO and the equipment of ENVISAT satellites.
Sweden
The Swedish National Space Board (Rymdstyrelse) functions as a joint body in international cooperation (incl. ESA). It is responsible for all government funded space activities with regard to research and development work.
Germany
The German Aerospace Centre (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, DLR) is responsible for space and aviation research. It was merged with Helmholtz Gesellschaft in 2003. Germany cooperates with Finland in the field of equipment (ERNE/SOHO, Mars-96) and remote sensing projects.
Switzerland
The Swiss Space Office (SSO) represents the country in ESA. Switzerland was Finland's first cooperation partner in space activities at the beginning of the 1980s. An example of this cooperation is the Odin satellite.
Denmark
The Danish Ministry of Research and Information Technology (Forskningsministeriet ) is in charge of the country's scientific and industrial activities, with the Danish Space Research Institute (Dansk Rumforskningsinstitut, DSRI) representing the country in ESA. The institute's task is to conduct space research and to function as the knowledge center for space instrumentation and technology. Denmark has cooperated with Finland since 1980 on projects such as Roemer and Spectrum-X-Gamma.
Cooperation with Russia
Cooperation between Finland and Russia was at its most active in the 1980s when the countries were involved in joint equipment projects. The technology and research agreement between Russia and Finland is still in force. Russia is paying its wartime debt to Finland through debt conversion programs that also include space-related areas of work.
Cooperation with NASA
Finland has no government-level agreements with NASA but terrestrial and spatial data collected by NASA is used for scientific purposes in Finland In addition, Finland has provided some equipment to NASA's probes, such as CASSINI, TWINS, and EOS-Aura, both commercially and non-commercially.
