Space research plays a crucial role in our understanding of the universe and our planet. Ever since the time of Nobel Laureate Hannes Alfvén, KTH has been a leader in space and plasma physics. Technology development for space applications is the foundation of the space infrastructure on which today's society depends—satellites for environmental monitoring, antennas for space communications, rockets and AI for rapid data interpretation. The global space economy is expected to double by a thousand billion dollars within ten years. KTH actively participates in several international space projects and collaborates with various institutions and organisations to drive advanced space research and technology development.
Meet our space scientists
Mark Pearce
Mark Pearce is a Professor of Astroparticle Physics and develops instruments and methods to study cosmic rays from space. His research focuses on X-ray polarimetry, a new observational method for studying celestial sources.
Mark Pearce's research contributes to new knowledge about black holes and rotating neutron stars, known as pulsars. Among other things, Mark has led the development of the custom-built PoGO+ telescope from KTH Royal Institute of Technology, which has gathered crucial data on the Crab Nebula supernova remnant and the black hole Cygnus X-1. He has also led Sweden's contribution to XL-Calibur, a new 12-metre-long space telescope weighing around two tonnes, which lifted off this summer from Esrange in Kiruna using a helium-filled balloon larger than the Globe. The new advanced telescope can measure the energy and polarisation of X-rays even more accurately than before, providing valuable new insights into black holes and pulsars.
Christer Fuglesang is a Swedish astronaut, spaceflight professor, and KTH Space Centre director. He became Sweden's first astronaut in space in December 2006 and completed another space mission three years later. Christer is also an outstanding researcher and has previously worked at CERN on particle physics research. At KTH, he has studied cosmic radiation and how it affects astronauts. He is part of a project that 2019 sent the Mini-EUSO experiment up to the International Space Station (ISS), which studies high-altitude lightning in the atmosphere and meteors searching for new cosmic particles. However, Dr Christer's current research focuses on the possibility of countering the rise of global temperature using a system of solar parasols in space between the Sun and Earth.
