Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon officially opens the Andøya SpacePort in November 2023. NORWEGIAN GOVERNMENT
THE WATCH STAFF
The United States and Norway will build an Arctic satellite station to defend the Scandinavian country and its NATO allies from potential aggression over the northern approaches. The station will be designed to detect cruise missiles and adds another layer of globally integrated layered defense (GILD) to maintain the international rules-based order. The proposed station will be located at Andøya Air Station, which Norway also recently designated as a base for long-range surveillance drones. “The establishment of the satellite station at the Andøya Airbase will significantly strengthen Norway’s and NATO’s territory,” Norway’s Defence Minister Bjørn Arild Gram said in an April 10, 2024, statement. “In today’s security situation we have to stand together to defend all of NATO.”
The station will be the first of its kind outside the U.S., the Norwegian government stated in the release. Its sensors will be able to detect cruise missiles approaching from the Arctic. Norway’s far north is well suited to sync with polar-orbiting satellites and is the latest example of bilateral cooperation between the two charter members of NATO. “I am very pleased that the U.S. has chosen Norway as its partner in this exciting project. In today’s security situation, we must stand together to be able to defend NATO’s entire territory. The establishment of the satellite station at Andøya Air Station contributes significantly to strengthening Norway’s and NATO’s defence capability. The cooperation is also a very good example of how bilateral cooperation between two NATO countries benefits the entire alliance,” Gram said.
The Andøya base is also home to Norway’s space program, and the future integration of defense systems will strengthen the country’s national security and bolster military prowess across NATO’s territory, Gram said. “The government has a clear ambition that Norway is to be best among its allies on situation awareness in the North. Satellites contribute to overview over developments in our region and Andøya has a unique location when it comes to access to the outer space,” Gram said. The latest developments at Andøya have reinvigorated the base, which housed P-3 surveillance plans before Norway replaced them with the P-8 Poseidon.
The space infrastructure, called the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), will consist of several hundred satellites. They are divided into one transport layer and one layer of satellites with different sensors. The transport team will establish a network in space with links between satellites and with links to management elements, weapons systems and other sensor systems in all military domains, according to a Norwegian government fact sheet.
The first satellites will launch this year and become operational in 2025. Full operational status is expected in 2029. The “space infrastructure” will be developed by the U.S. Space Development Agency. “The purpose of PWSA is to develop a space-based infrastructure to support situational awareness, command and control and target tracking and create a network between sensors and effectors, not least for the use of long-range precision weapons and air defence specifically designed for defence against cruise missiles,” the release stated.
The Andøya plans are part of a significant increase in defense spending announced earlier in April 2024 by Norway. The country will increase defense spending by approximately $468 million by 2036 to reach defense spending that will equal 3% of the country’s GDP, well above the goal of 2% for NATO members. The defense plan also calls for five new submarines and five new frigates with anti-submarine helicopters in addition to the Andøya developments. “This is a historical strengthening of Norwegian Armed Forces,” said Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre at an April 5, 2024, news conference, according to the Independent Barents News, a Norwegian newspaper.