District of Munich is developing into a hotspot for space research
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The “Bavaria One” space program in Ottobrunn is taking on a leading position
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fromMax Wochinger
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The district of Munich is developing more and more into an important industrial and research location for aerospace – as requested by the Bavarian state government. Not only is the Faculty of Aviation, Aerospace and Geodesy at the Technical University of Munich in Ottobrunn growing and thriving, companies such as Isar Aerospace, which among other things builds small launch vehicles, are also causing a stir.
Ottobrunn / Neubiberg – The “Bavaria One” program has picked up speed and is building on times when Ottobrunn and the Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm aviation group enjoyed a great reputation all over the world. The goal of the state government is to develop Bavaria into the largest industrial and research location for aerospace in Europe. Universities and space companies in Ottobrunn and Neubiberg now occupy top positions in this field.
The southeast of the Munich district has an important position. Florian Herrmann, Head of the Bavarian State Chancellery, even speaks of the “Bavarian Space Valley” based on the Californian start-up mecca Silicon Valley. Big words with a clear goal: the Munich region should become number 1.
22 professorships and over 800 students
The Technical University of Munich (TUM) is an important part of this strategy. In May 2018, on the initiative of the state government, the Faculty of Aviation, Space and Geodesy was founded in Ottobrunn. Only three and a half years later there are already 22 professorships at the faculty with over 800 students. The goal of the TUM: 50 professorships and more than 3000 students by 2030. The TUM should become the “# 01 Faculty in Europe”, writes the university on its website.
The TUM supports public research projects, and in the winter semester of 2021 the new bachelor’s degree in “Aerospace” started. 118 students from 40 countries are enrolled in it; they come from Indonesia, Iran and Kazakhstan, among others.
The Bundeswehr University is also involved
The Bundeswehr University in Neubiberg is also involved, researching, among other things, small launch vehicles. The so-called “micro-launchers” are becoming more and more important for the flight into orbit because the cargo, including satellites, is getting smaller and smaller. The demand for low-cost rocket launches with small launch vehicles is high.
In order to make rocket launches even more efficient and cheaper, the Bundeswehr University is currently researching secondary high-pressure tanks for launch vehicles. You are a “strong cost driver of the launcher production,” said the university. These tanks are used to print the main tanks or as fuel tanks for control engines, according to a spokesman. The research project is scheduled for four years. The University of the Federal Armed Forces works with the company Blackwave, a carbon expert from Taufkirchen. Many suppliers to the space industry are also based in the district.
The Federal Ministry of Economics is funding the research project. It should also support the ambitious goals of the so-called “New Space Race”, announced the university. “New space race” is the race to conquer orbit with small satellites.
Isar Aerospace factory test flight
Isar Aerospace will lead the space race. The young company from Ottobrunn builds these small launchers – the type of missile that the Bundeswehr University is researching. The space company also performs rocket launches as a service provider. Isar Aerospace was founded in 2018 by TUM alumni Daniel Metzler, Josef Fleischmann and Markus Brandl. The company has since grown to over 200 employees. The first test flight is planned for this year.
In recent years, the Ottobrunners have won several entrepreneurial competitions. They were able to convince international sponsors, including the Porsche Group and the professional investor Airbus Ventures. They have already collected 180 million euros.
Another agreement was signed in mid-December: Isar Aerospace will send satellites from the Swiss exchange company Astrocast into orbit by 2024. Astrocast, a communication technology service provider, is another client in the rocket builder’s growing customer base.
Astrocast says it will support “European solutions” for launching satellites. In Isar Aerospace, the Swiss have found a missile service provider whose headquarters are in the heart of Europe: in Bavaria. The rockets with the small satellites on board are launched from the launch pad in Andøya, Norway.
The Bavarian region is a global center of the space industry and research, said Florian Holzapfel in an interview with Münchner Merkur at the end of October 2021. Holzapfel is Professor of Flight System Dynamics at the Faculty of Aviation, Space Travel and Geodesy in Ottobrunn. “There are billions in investments in the Munich area,” says the scientist. The greater Munich area is special, he explains, because “all companies can only be reached in half an hour”.