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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 0595.PDF
Germany: space LACK OF IGI ITION State funding has played a large role in shaping Germany's space programme. But with the government cutting contributions, can the sector prosper? ROB COPPINGER / LONDON a subscale reusable spaceplane prototype due to be drop-tested over Sweden this week illustrates Germany's leading role in shap ing Europe's future in space. Built by Bremen-based EADS Space Transportation, the Phoenix spaceplane is designed to prove the feasibility of a reusable space transport system. It is a national research programme that is expected to form part of the European Space Agency's (ESA) recently approved Future Launch Preparatory Programme to pave the way for the next generation of launch vehicles (FlightInternational, 6-12 April). But the German government is not in creasing its space spending, which in 2001 was €970 million ($1.14 billion), and senior executives see government policy as the biggest threat to their industry. "This really is a concern. The German budget is stalling and in real terms, in cash value, is declining. On the euro level it is level, but in buying power it is going down," says Dr Fritz Merkle, chief technology officer for OHB-System. Bremen-based OHB-System is one of the largest companies in a space sector that, according to aerospace industries associa tion BDLI, last year employed around 5,000 of the 70,000 people in the German aero space industry, and accounted for over €1 billion of its €15 billion in total sales. BDLI managing director Hans-Joachim Gante echoes Merkle's view: "Any more cuts to the national programme would threaten the future of the companies involved. We must do everything we can to preserve the national space research programme and to broaden it in the not too distant future." Government policy would be less impor tant if state funding did not constitute such a large amount of space spending. As in other countries, the German space industry has a commercial side, with the sale of launchers and satellites for Earth observa- Some subsystems for the European Columbus laboratory module are produced by OHM System tion and telecommunications, but over whelmingly its revenue stems from a gov ernment-led institutional market. Government agencies buying space equipment and services for civilian uses such as navigation or exploration, or mili tary uses such as reconnaissance, make up most of the market. According to industry, the civil/military split is 70:30. For the likes of small and medium-sized space enterprises such as OHB-System with its 200 employees and Munich-based Kayser-Threde, the main customers are ESA and the German govern ment. Contracts range from subsystems for the European Columbus laboratory module for the International Space Station, to the SAR-Lupe synthetic-aperture-radar recon naissance satellites under development by OHB-System for the German military. Kayser-Threde is working on a telescope for the German government's Max Planck Society, a network of government research laboratories. "We are almost exclusively focused on microgravity, but we also get contacts for Earth observation. On the national level our main competitor for this is OHB," says Dr Eckart Wulf, the firm's senior strategist. Commercial market Beyond these government contracts there is the commercial market. Even with the concerns over government funding, the state has represented a far more stable rev enue stream than the commercial sector. In 2002, world demand for commercial satellites plummeted and there were just six contracts worldwide. That recovered to 20 in 2003 and the market is expected to stabilise at around 20-25 a year from 2005 purely to replace old satellites. The company most exposed to these potentially damaging fluctuations is EADS Space, which nonetheless has captured 20% of the world market for satellites to be launched this year with five institutional and four commercial spacecraft. EADS is the biggest player in Germany's space market, through three companies: satellite builder EADS Astrium; EADS Space Services (satellite services); and EADS Space Transportation (launch vehicles and orbital infrastructure). Astrium is based in Munich and Friedrichshafen, Space Services in Ottobrunn and Space Trans portation in Bremen, Ottobrunn, Fried richshafen and Lampoldshausen. Because of its size, with 3,100 employees in Germany, EADS Space is prime contrac tor on several programmes and has led the national Phoenix reusable launch-vehicle research project. Its Astrium subsidiary is prime contractor for the TerraSAR-X lm- resolution Earth-observation radar satellite, which is being developed under the first public/private partnership of its kind in 60 4-10 MAY 2004 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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