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The US and Norway have signed a Technology Safeguards Agreement to allow the US to launch satellites from and move US launchers to the Andøya Spaceport in northern Norway, according to posts from the US and Norwegian governments.
The agreement promises to also prevent "unauthorized dissemination" of US tech and further solidifies Norway as a US ally in the Arctic, Norway's post said. Norway's Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth-Eide said in a statement that the deal has been a "high priority" for the country's government. Bloomberg first reported news of the agreement on Friday.
"The Agreement, upon entry into force, provides the legal and technical framework for US commercial space launches from Norwegian spaceports while ensuring proper handling of sensitive technology, consistent with our longstanding partnership as members of the Missile Technology Control Regime," the US State Department's brief memo reads.
Andøya Spaceport, which is a 16-hour drive north from Trondheim, will also be used for Norwegian military purposes. NASA has already done over 300 launches with Andøya Space, which has been around since the 1960s but launched its spaceport in 2023.
Norway has previously launched satellites from the US, too. This week, the NorSat-4 maritime monitoring satellite was launched via a SpaceX Transporter-12 rideshare mission from the Vandenberg Space Force Base, which is located between San Louis Obispo and Santa Barbara, California.
The US already has similar launch agreements with the UK and Australia. The news comes as a number of different US satellite firms, from SpaceX to Amazon and AST Spacemobile, look to launch constellations of satellites to provide internet and communications services. SpaceX is able to send dozens of Starlink satellites into space with just one launch—and currently has nearly 7,000 Starlink satellites in Earth's orbit.
Last year, private US space firms' rivalries heated up when Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin tried to cap SpaceX's Starlink launches because of perceived risks to the local environment. On Thursday, Blue Origin finally launched its New Glenn rocket, which reached Earth's orbit on its first try after being delayed for years.