Sweden commissions study on Gripen fighter jet satellite launch capability

FARNBOROUGH — Sweden has opened a novel study into the feasibility of launching a small satellite into space from a Saab Gripen multirole fighter jet, as the Nordic nation looks at new ways of strengthening dispersed operations and countering Russian aggression.

Lead by the Swedish Air Force and in collaboration with the country’s Defense Research Agency, the Stella study revolves around the “potential for the Gripen to launch a small satellite into LEO (Low Earth Orbit),” said Col. Ella Carlsson, head of the Swedish Air Force’s Space Division.

Looking at agile combat and “dispersion operations, it’s all about how can we use these strengths? How can we use it for space? Perhaps you can use a Gripen fighter,” she said.

The study, which Carlsson revealed last week at a Swedish Air Force Fan Club event in London, was conceived after a conversation with the former director general of the Ukrainian Space Agency that drew on the utility of responsive satellite launch capabilities, according to Aviation Week

The concept of a fighter jet sending a satellite into space is not entirely new. Italy has explored a similar path to Sweden’s Stella study, previously investigating what it might take for a Eurofighter Typhoon to launch small satellites into space.

Larger commercial airliners are more commonly used to take on the job, however, not fighter jets. Before going bankrupt, Virgin Orbit successfully sent 10 satellites into LEO from a Boeing 747 launch platform.

As adventurous as the Swedish study sounds, there is no guarantee that it leads to a future operational capability.

“As regards the specifics of the Stella study and its intended purpose, we will not prejudge the feasibility nor outcome,” a Saab spokesperson said in a statement.

The Stella study is aligned to Sweden’s first defense space strategy announced earlier this month and which is founded on four pillars, broadly covering: freedom of action, development of a capability portfolio, commitment to responsible operations and delivering a space policy that can contribute to “crisis preparedness.”

The new space strategy did not disclose how much Sweden will spend on space-based capabilities.

Besides how the Stella study advances capabilities, in the more immediate term, the Swedish Air Force has prioritized the acquisition of a new long-range air-to-ground missile for Sweden’s Gripen C/D fleet.