Some Japanese researchers have opted to make Sweden their home base as they seek to take full advantage of the Nordic country's advanced space exploration research programs.

The northern city of Kiruna is a key center for space research in Sweden. It sits north of the Arctic Circle and draws researchers from all over the world, who favor the city's geographical location as it gives them frequent opportunities to observe the aurora borealis.

The Kiruna-headquartered Swedish Institute of Space Physics, or IRF, is a state-run agency at the center of the country's research and observatory programs associated with research on space and technology.

Photo taken in October 2023 of the Maxus rocket monument, a symbol of space exploration in Kiruna, Sweden. (Kyodo)

Annelie Klint Nilsson, an IRF public relations official, said the headquarters had some 30 researchers as of March, including four from Japan.

The number of foreign researchers working at the IRF increases if you add staff from its other research bases in Umea, Uppsala and Lund to the total figure, Nilsson said, noting that foreign-born researchers at the IRF also include those from India, France and Russia.

Although Japan has a strong scientific relationship with the United States in the field of space exploration, Japanese researchers are expected to work more closely with Sweden in the coming years.

Photo taken in October 2023 of Manabu Shimoyama of the Swedish Institute of Space Physics, and a model of Viking, the country's first artificial satellite, in Kiruna, Sweden. (Kyodo)

One of the researchers is Manabu Shimoyama, 49, who came to the IRF in 2015 after studying in Japan and Canada. He is involved in the European Space Agency's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, or JUICE, project, which operates an interplanetary spacecraft designed to study Jupiter and its three icy moons: Ganymede, Callisto and Europa.

He serves as a coordinator between Japan and Sweden, which jointly developed some of the equipment on board the JUICE probe that was launched in April 2023 and is expected to enter orbit around Ganymede for observations in 2034.

Sweden is a member of the ESA, and the IRF is much smaller in scale than the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States, as well as the space exploration agencies of other big countries.

Shimoyama says there are many positive sides and benefits of working at the IRF. "Since researchers and engineers are at the same facility, ideas take shape faster," he said.

Cooperation in space exploration between Japan and Sweden took off in 1998 with the Japanese Mars orbiter, called Nozomi, and has continued with lunar, Mercury and Venus exploration projects.

"I think (Japan and Sweden) have been jointly involved in almost all missions in one way or another. Their strong ties are definitely noteworthy," Shimoyama said.

With a population of about 23,000, Kiruna is famous for tourism built around the dazzling northern lights and the original Icehotel, made each year out of snow and ice. It also features the Maxus rocket monument as a symbol of the space exploration research city. Some Japanese experts have been studying there for two or three decades.

Photo taken in October 2023 of Yoshifumi Futaana explaining his research in Kiruna, Sweden. (Kyodo)

Yoshifumi Futaana, 48, who specializes in heliophysics (the study of the Sun and its connection with the solar system) came to Kiruna in 2003 to get involved in Mars exploration. Futaana praised the IRF for its "spirit of pursuing original and ambitious studies."

Recently, young Japanese researchers have been coming to the IRF through connections with Futaana and others. Given the long-term nature of space exploration research, it is important to pass on the baton to the next generation.

"We want to do more joint work with Japan. To this end, it is essential to develop talent in Japan," Futaana said.

Photo taken in October 2023 of Japanese researchers chatting at the space exploration institute in Kiruna, Sweden. (From L: Masatoshi Yamauchi, Yoshifumi Futaana and Manabu Shimoyama) (Kyodo)

Masatoshi Yamauchi, in his 60s, has been conducting research in Kiruna for more than 30 years. He called the IRF "a special overseas institute" due to the strong presence of Japanese researchers.

At the IRF, where Japanese researchers play greater roles than at NASA with its much larger talent pool, Japan is positioned as a "more equal" partner, he stressed.

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