Esrange Space Center is located in northern Sweden, 45 km from the town of Kiruna at 67oN, 21oE. Esrange is a rocket range and research centre located outside the town of Kiruna in northern Sweden. It is a base for scientific research with high altitude balloons, investigation of the aurora borealis, sounding rocket launches, and satellite tracking, among other things. Located 200 km north of the Arctic Circle and surrounded by a vast wilderness, its geographic location is ideal for many of these purposes.
The central complex includes all facilities that are necessary for a pleasant stay at Esrange.
The local hotel Aurora has been used by tourists since December 2007, who want to spend time at the only rocket base allowing tourists to sleep in the hotels, which are normally meant for scientists and engineers.
Rocket launches
Since 1966 a total of more than 500 sounding rockets have been
launched from the Esrange Space Center. All rockets launched from
Esrange are, for the time being, sounding rockets and are used for
science in various disciplines.
Balloon launches
In 1974 the first stratospheric balloon was launched from
Esrange Space Center and since then more than 550 scientific balloons
have been launched. Launches are performed by the SSC launch team often
together with the CNES launch team (France) or the CSBF launch team
working for NASA (USA).
