On 24–26 April 2026, 47 university students from across Sweden gathered at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg for Space Students Sweden’s first national conference.
Students travelled from Lund, Gothenburg, Uppsala, Stockholm and Luleå, with many representing their local student associations within the federation. Over the course of the weekend, they took part in lectures, discussions, workshops and social activities covering the Swedish space industry, research and student engagement.
The conference began on Friday with an introduction to the weekend, followed by dinner and the evening’s main activity: an egg drop challenge with a space-industry twist. The participants were tasked with designing a system capable of safely returning an egg to Earth while keeping the cost per flight as low as possible. Reusable designs could spread their construction costs across several flights, turning the activity into a small exercise in engineering, business and cost optimisation.
Afterwards, many continued the evening back at the hotel, staying up late talking and getting to know students from other associations.
Saturday morning focused on Industry & NewSpace. We were joined by Jakob Östberg from Beyond Gravity and Fredrik Ranow from SpaceWest, who spoke about the current state of the Swedish space sector and where it might be heading in the future.
The lectures were followed by a panel discussion about the opportunities emerging within NewSpace and what role students and young professionals can play in shaping the path forward.
After lunch, the focus shifted to Space Research and student projects. The presentations covered an impressive range of subjects, from a master’s thesis on high-redshift cosmology and an EUCYS gold medal-winning project on topological spin structures, to grassroots student satellite projects and nationwide REXUS/BEXUS teams.
Most projects came from associations within the federation, while others were individual projects carried out by conference participants. Together, they represented fields including cosmology, solid state physics, aerospace engineering and climate science. The presentations were followed by mingling and discussion, and one presenter even handed out candy to anyone who answered their questions correctly.
Saturday evening concluded with a traditional Swedish student sittning at Folkets Hus in Fräntorp. The project group had prepared a three-course dinner, and everyone took part in traditional student activities such as singing and games. After dinner, the evening continued with music, dancing and a bar.
On Sunday morning, the final programme segment focused on Federation Engagement & Associations. Federation president Anton Lindbro presented Space Students Sweden’s current and future operations, joined by Markus Nielsen from Västdistriktet, who spoke about local activities in western Sweden.
The programme also included a lecture by Anton Vannesjö on the laws surrounding model rocketry, as well as a presentation by Mikael Ingemyr on MUCF and funding for youth federations. The participants then took part in a workshop where they developed and pitched ideas for future Space Students Sweden projects.
Despite covering topics such as legislation, bureaucracy and funding, the workshop became one of the clearest demonstrations of the creativity within the federation. Several participants also expressed an interest in becoming more involved with Space Students Sweden and taking part in future activities.
After lunch and a closing speech, it was time for everyone to head home. The first national conference was over, but hopefully only the first of many national events to come.
If you want to take a more active role in shaping the future of the federation, keep an eye out for upcoming applications to our national project groups.
Partners
We are very grateful to our sponsors, whose support made the conference possible.
Thank you to Chalmers University of Technology for their sponsorship, for providing us with venues and for helping us bring students from across Sweden together in Gothenburg.
We would also like to thank Beyond Gravity for their sponsorship, merchandise and for sending Jakob Östberg to contribute to the NewSpace programme.
