New establishment – Tromsø consolidates its position in space operations
Today marks a new establishment within the space business in Tromsø which will
contribute to further consolidating Tromsø’s position as a leading center of gravity in
international space business. This happens through the opening of “The Arctic Phi-
Lab”. The Phi-Lab will contribute to the development of new space-based technologies and services that will especially cover Arctic needs related to management, environment, resources and security. This will be done by the Phi-Lab setting up and managing research and development projects to develop space technology, systems and tools to generate and disseminate reliable and up-to-date information to Arctic end users. The results will also contribute to developing and strengthening the national and European space industry’s competitive advantages.
The Phi-Lab is a collaboration between the actors in Tromsø, and is led by KSAT in
collaboration with NORCE, UiT, Norinnova, Akvaplan-niva and Jordobservasjon
AS. This collaboration will also be expanded to include the Norwegian Polar
Institute and Meteorological Instiute. The lab will be physically located in the old Northern Lights
Observatory. The budget is approximately NOK 100 million, of which approximately
NOK 50 million is financed through the European Space Agency (ESA), and the
remaining NOK 50 million nationally. The initial duration is 6 years.
“Our objective is that the Arctic Phi-Lab should become an attractive meeting place
for research and innovation in order to develop and strengthen Tromsø’s position as
a leading international center for space activities. The Arctic has become a focus
area in the broadest sense, and the Phi-Lab will contribute to delivering technology
and operational services to users with needs and roots in Tromsø and in the Arctic in
general,” says Jan Petter Pedersen, Jordobservasjon AS, one of the key people
behind the establishment of the Phi-Lab in Tromsø.