Esrange Space Center is a rocket range and research centre located about 40 kilometers east of 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 BLAST payload and high-altitude balloon shortly before launch.
The final Skylark rocket launch at Esrange on 2 May 2005.
A vast uninhabited area north of the range is used as an area where the sounding rockets can land. Spread throughout this area are small shelters, like the one shown in this picture. When a launch campaign is planned, people are asked to visit such shelters and listen to the radio. This shelter is at Vassejávri, around 10 km west of Järämä (Sweden).
Interior of such a shelter
Kiruna is the northernmost city in Sweden, situated in the province of Lapland. It had 17,002 inhabitants in 2016 and is the seat of Kiruna Municipality in Norrbotten County. The city was originally built in the 1890s to serve the Kiruna Mine.
An Iore-hauled train passing Vassijaure
The old Kiruna City Hall in summer
Population development in Kiruna town
Aurora taken from the suburbs of Kiruna
