Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen: Finland will start building satellite cooperation together with Allies

Finland hosted NATO’s first Arctic Space Forum in Helsinki on 12 November 2025. In his opening address, Finland’s Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen said that Finland will start building satellite cooperation together with Allies.

“We will build a strong and comprehensive surveillance capability that will strengthen NATO’s deterrence and defence in Northern Europe. This will strengthen the security of Finland and of the Alliance,” Minister of Defence Häkkänen said.

According to Häkkänen, the plan is to create a multinational community of Allies that are using SAR satellites. This will promote compatibility, synergy and best practices related to SAR capabilities.

“Space has evolved from being an arena for research and great power competition to a platform for global business and economic influence. This essentially reflects a broader trend. Space used to be dominated by science and the military. Now it is a strategic and operational resource that is shaping the balance of power. Space is also important for NATO’s deterrence and defence,” Minister Häkkänen said.

“That is why we have launched a national project to develop our space capabilities. We have procured three SAR satellites from the Finnish company ICEYE for this purpose. This will bolster our surveillance capabilities. At the same time, we are paving the way for a more comprehensive plan to develop our space capacity,” Häkkänen said.

The topics of the NATO Arctic Space Forum included the strategic importance of the Arctic, closer cooperation between the defence sector and the commercial space sector and NATO’s role in bringing these sectors together to build an interoperable space architecture.