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Sweden’s only Master of Engineering course in Space Science

Sweden’s only Master of Engineering course in Space Science is available at Luleå University of Technology (LTU) in Kiruna.

“Kiruna has developed into Sweden’s space cluster. It’s home to Rymdbolaget’s Esrange facility, the State Institute for Space Physics (IRF), the European Space Agency ESA and the international science organization’s EISCAT space radar station. We are able to carry out research and training on site where everything happens,” says Hans Weber, who is responsible for LTU’s space operations.

The course has been running since the 1990s and accepts around 60 students every year. LTU’s space research is growing and several projects are under way in collaboration with e.g. Esrange and IRF.

LTU and five other EU universities are participating in a two-year space course within the framework of Erasmus Mundus, which means that 35 international students will spend at least one term in Kiruna.

Swedish space research is concentrated on Kiruna for several reasons. It began a long while ago with research into the aurora borealis. As the significance of satellites grew it became evident that Kiruna was also a strategic place from which to download data from satellites in polar orbits. There is also plenty of space for rocket and balloon experiments.

A great deal of collaboration also takes place with other parts of the university. For example, System Technology is close by with various research projects in antenna technology and robotics.