Denmark’s national space strategy aims to promote space missions, through a dedicated programme, drawing inspiration from the Ørsted satellite – a key driver of the Danish space sector’s development.
The National Space Missions Program will help build capacity in the Danish space sector by supporting missions that generate significant scientific, economic, or societal value. These may include breakthroughs that elevate Denmark's role in international space efforts, strengthen partnerships, support startups, and inspire public interest— here also excitement and interest in science and space among the younger generation. The missions can also contribute to Danish defense, security and emergency preparedness, the green transition, and Danish industry.
The programme is anchored in the Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science and will be partly funded through Denmark’s contribution to ESA’s optional programme activities. The choice of programme(s) depends on the nature of each mission. ESA provides Danish actors with access to qualified support for technical solutions and project management, as well as opportunities to participate in international collaborations. Missions may also be co-financed by both private and public actors, nationally and internationally.
Over the next 10 years, it is the government's ambition to select and fund up to four national space missions, including the Danish-led “Máni Mission” as the first potential national mission. The Máni Mission holds significant scientific and commercial potential, aiming to improve Earth’s climate models and support future crewed lunar missions.
The Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science, in collaboration with relevant authorities and following a cadence expected to align with ESA’s ministerial conferences every three years, will call for project proposals for the implementation of new national space missions.
The Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science expects to begin the work on defining the framework for the New National Space Programme in 2026. Leading up to this work, it is of importance to the Agency to support the sector’s ability to coordinate a national dialogue on the framework for future space missions.
The ambition is that this dialogue will help strengthen the framework for the programme, which in the longer run ultimately will increase the competition and ensure higher quality and relevance in each mission.
As part of the dialogue, the Agency wishes a focus on the following questions:
Incentives and collaboration: Can we, in advance, create a programme framework that motivates potential applicants to utilise all of Denmark’s competencies and promotes cross-sector collaboration to achieve the collective “Ørsted a-like-effect” that elevates the entire space sector?
Synergies between missions: Can we design the programme so that elements from previous missions can be built upon in new ones—thereby creating coherence and synergies without compromising competition, avoiding repetition, and instead fostering a continuous development process?
Key technologies: Where can Denmark position itself to be (more) relevant in the EU/ESA/international context? What does this mean for the choice of TRL (Technology Readiness Level) for the missions?
Scalable missions: How can national missions lead to scalable commercial and scientific technologies, and how can the missions themselves become scalable to create synergies between different missions?
Danish competencies: Where is it possible to build further on Danish competencies?
Collaboration models: What collaboration models, including legal structures, need to be developed to realise the full potential of collaboration, especially between industry and research institutions?
Potential for international collaboration: Where can Denmark find international partners for nationally led missions?
Potential for entrepreneurship: Where is there potential to simultaneously increase entrepreneurship and open up exciting educational activities?
Research funding: How is it possible to combine a national mission programme with external funding sources?
Public authority needs: Where is it possible to involve the needs of public authorities in connection with realising the above-mentioned potentials?
Outcome
The final outcome of this process will be a report (10 pages) that documents the key results and perspectives gathered throughout the year. This report will provide a overview of the findings from a variety of activities, including workshops, interviews, and surveys. It will highlight the insights gained from stakeholder engagement. This collaborative effort, running throughout 2025, will ensure that the report reflects a broad range of viewpoints, contributing to a well-rounded understanding what should be considers when creating furture framework for national space missions.
