OHB creates the “European Spaceport Company” for European space launch infrastructure

The German group OHB has announced the creation of the European Spaceport Company (ESC), a new company dedicated to the development and management of launch infrastructure for space missions. Stated goal: to strengthen and make Europe's autonomous access to space more competitive, complementing the development capabilities of launch vehicles with a new generation of spaceports, both on land and offshore.

According to OHB, for truly independent European access to space, launchers are not enough: modern, flexible, and cost-effective launch sites are needed. The European Spaceport Company was created precisely to concentrate, within a single entity, the group's expertise in the field of launch infrastructure, ground segments, and related services.

The new company will be responsible for:

• designing and constructing mobile and fixed launch pads,
• developing and managing ground segments,
• establishing mission control centers,
• setting up test infrastructure,
• providing operational and logistical services to support launch campaigns.

«Europe needs reliable and independent access to space. At OHB, we have been working on this for years, and spaceports are an essential part of it», emphasizes Marco Fuchs, CEO of OHB SE, quoted in the statement. «We already contribute significantly to the concept of Offshore Spaceport and intend to further expand this commitment».

The role of Kourou and the experience gained

OHB claims long-standing experience in the field of launch infrastructure. Through its subsidiaries, the group has been involved in the development of European capabilities in this area for over fifty years. In particular, MT Aerospace AG has been involved for about thirty years in the activities of the Guiana Space Centre (CSG) in Kourou, with key roles in the construction of critical infrastructure, maintenance, and support for launch operations.

Over the years, the group has also conducted several studies on alternative concepts for suborbital and orbital launches, preparing for a phase in the space sector characterized by new needs for flexibility, launch frequency, and cost reduction.

Offshore Spaceport and mobile platform MMULP

Among the first priorities assigned to the European Spaceport Company are:

• the creation of a European offshore spaceport,
• the expansion of launch capabilities at the CSG in Kourou.

In a later phase, the offer of launch services and support infrastructure will also be proposed to non-European markets.

A central element of this vision is the result of the collaborative project OSLIOS (Offshore Spaceport – Lösungsfindung und Infrastrukturentwicklung für orbitale Starts), recently concluded. Within OSLIOS, a mobile multi-user launch pad (MMULP) was developed, designed to be compatible with different types of launch vehicles.

This solution, according to OHB, allows for:

• modularly increasing the capacities of existing spaceports,
• detaching the availability of launch pads from a single rocket model,
• leveraging existing infrastructure, such as ground stations and communication networks,
• increasing the launch cadence while reducing operational times and costs.

The OSLIOS project was made possible thanks to the support of the German Federal Ministry of Transport and close collaboration with the DLR (German Aerospace Center).

Governance and industrial positioning

The European Spaceport Company will be led by a three-person management team:

• Sabine von der Recke,
• Ulrich Scheib (MT Aerospace AG),
• Arne Gausepohl (OHB Digital).

«The new era of the space economy requires more offerings and creative solutions along the entire value chain», says von der Recke. «At OHB, we are well-versed in spaceports and infrastructure and are very close to market developments: we put this know-how at the service of our clients».

OHB SE presents itself as one of the main European players in space systems, with over 3,600 employees across Europe and overseas and three business areas – Space Systems, Aerospace, and Digital. Its activities range from the creation of satellites to the production of components for aircraft and launch vehicles, to the provision of ground infrastructure and services related to the transmission and application of satellite data.

With the creation of the European Spaceport Company, the group now aims to consolidate the launch infrastructure segment as well, at a time when independent access to space is increasingly perceived as a strategic factor for Europe, both industrially and in terms of security and defense.