also sourced technologies from Norway. The country has also been a location for testing equipment bound for extraterrestrial use to evaluate its ability to withstand local conditions. During 1997, the Andøya Space Center was privatised, the Norwegian Space Center acquired a 90% stake in it as a consequence; the center is run on a commercial basis for undertaking both domestic and international missions. During the 2010s, the agency has been a partner in the development of the Nucleus hybrid sounding rocket, which is intended to be safer, cheaper, and more environmentally-friendly than prior models. During February 2019, the Norwegian Space Centre was formally renamed as the Norwegian Space Agency; according to Communication Director Marianne Moen, this change was enacted to reduce confusion over the organisation's function and to clarify that its status as a government body. Space Norway Space Norway is a related Norwegian space company that was established during 2014. Its mission statement is to own and/or lease space infrastructure and to make investments in space-related activities. While it operates as a commercial limited liability company, Space Norway is entirely owned by the Government of Norway. The company has been allocated a 50% stake in Kongsberg Satellite Services, which specialises in reading data from in-orbit Earth observation satellites on behalf of various satellite owners. In July 2019, Space Norway contracted with American companies Northrop Grumman and SpaceX to build and launch respectively its two-satellite Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission (ASBM) system, which is scheduled for launch in 2023. See also List of government space agencies Andøya Space Center Hinode Science Data Centre Europe References External links Norwegian Space Agency Space agencies Space Centre Space program of Norway