The new research project SPACECONOMY – Advancing Sustainable Economic Growth through Space has begun on October 1, 2025. Its mission is clear: to ensure that Finland becomes an active, resilient and competitive part of the rapidly expanding global space economy.
Satellite technologies – such as Earth Observation (EO) and Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) – are often key to different societal challenges, from climate change and environmental monitoring to logistics, security and digital services. With the New Space sector growing faster than ever before, SPACECONOMY aims to help Finland make use of these opportunities in a sustainable and coordinated way.
Building a nationally collaborative space ecosystem
SPACECONOMY brings together leading Finnish experts from universities, research institutes, industry, public authorities and civil society. The project’s goal is to build a collaborative, interdisciplinary national space ecosystem that accelerates sustainable economic growth and strengthens Finland’s global competitiveness.
The consortium partners are:
- Aalto University
- University of Helsinki
- Finnish Meteorological Institute
- National Land Survey of Finland
- Tampere University
- University of Turku
- University of Vaasa
- Tuotantoyhtiö Kupla Productions Oy (led by space journalist Jari Mäkinen)
The project is led by Professor Heidi Kuusniemi from the Tampere University. Kuusniemi is also a docent at the University of Vaasa and the former director of the Kvarken Space Center.
University of Vaasa leads one of the work packages
The University of Vaasa is responsible for Work Package 4: Sustainable governance for space economy, which focuses on developing a national roadmap to support Finland’s long-term success in the space sector. Vaasa’s contribution to the project will begin in 2026.
The University of Vaasa project team includes Professor Arto Ojala who serves as WP Leader and Associate Professor Helka Kalliomäki as subproject PI, with contributions from experts across various fields.
The funding decision covers the first three years, with an option to extend funding for an additional three-year period.
The project is funded by the Strategic Research Council (SRC) established within the Research Council of Finland. Part of SRC’s aim is to support solution-oriented research related to economic growth, innovation and the future work life.
