WITHAt first it looked like an obsession, and there are still many hurdles to overcome before small launchers can actually launch from a floating platform in the North Sea. The Federation of German Industries (BDI) and a consortium of companies have been campaigning for the project for months and have already taken several steps in the corresponding direction. A special ship was envisaged from which the missiles could take off, and an alliance of several partners was established to take over the construction and operation of the platform.
On Monday, several manufacturers of small rockets, so-called microlaunchers, announced their intention to actually use the launch site if it was created. They want to transport small satellites into orbit from there. Such products are “trendsetters”, said Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier (CDU) when the contract was signed in Berlin. “The future belongs to you.” The German government wants to help German companies play a leading role in the business.
One of the four manufacturers is the Rocket Factory Augsburg, backed by the space company OHB from Bremen. In addition, Hyimpulse from Neuenstadt in Baden-Württemberg, T-Minus from the Netherlands and Skyrora from Great Britain are interested in using the mobile launch site. They are all developing small launch vehicles that are expected to play a crucial role in building large satellite fields in orbit in the future.
“Central to the New Space value chain”
By 2030, 15,000 satellites would be launched into space, the President of the BDI, Siegfried Russwurm, calculated on Monday. 90 percent of them are small satellites weighing less than 500 kilograms. In order to be able to transport these into space inexpensively and in large numbers, not only the launch vehicles are needed, but also the appropriate launch site. This is “central to a New Space value chain” in Germany. The term “New Space” describes the increasingly commercial use of space travel, from which many companies are hoping for a growing market.
The floating launch pad project began almost two years ago with an advance by OHB. The German Offshore Spaceport Alliance was later founded, to which OHB, among others, the Bremen company BLG Logistics, the insurance specialist Lampe & Schwartze and the shipping company Harren belong. She should be responsible for the operation of the ship from which the missiles are to take off. A feasibility study is planned next to address legal and regulatory hurdles. Altmaier announced in Berlin that the Ministry of Economic Affairs will bear half of the costs. In addition, start-up financing of between 25 and 27 million euros is required, which has not yet been decided.
Thomas Jarzombek, Federal Government Coordinator for Aerospace, announced that he would like to accelerate. The intention is to “go over the target” before the next federal government comes into office. However, it remains to be seen whether this will succeed. The concern is that another coalition, for example with the participation of the Greens, sees the project more critically and may overturn.
350 kilometers off the German coast
A launch site for small missiles on the German mainland is hardly feasible, also because of the complex German planning law. Therefore, those responsible have decided in good time on a floating platform or a special ship that is to be operated from Bremerhaven.
For the take-offs, it should head for a point on the extreme northwestern edge of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the North Sea. Despite the great distance of around 350 kilometers from the German coast, the legal circumstances are not easy. Shipping and offshore wind farms must not be endangered under any circumstances. It is also considered likely that environmental groups will storm the project, possibly also with lawsuits.
The companies involved do not want to be deterred by this, because they believe the technology has huge potential. Experts at the American investment bank Morgan Stanley estimate that the market for applications in space will reach a volume of more than one trillion dollars by 2040, about three times as much as in 2016.
The BDI expects its own starting base to send a signal that German companies want to fight for an important position in the market. The project is intended to facilitate logistics and save manufacturers in this country the bureaucratic effort when they have to transport their rockets to launch sites in other parts of the world. The technology falls into the field of dual-use goods, for the export of which special permits are required, as they can be used both civilly and militarily.
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