German Defense Minister Pistorius visits Isar Aerospace, discusses Bundeswehr space launch capabilities

Ottobrunn — "I think today's meeting sends a very important signal, because our defense of the free world begins in space," said Isar Aerospace CEO Daniel Metzler yesterday during a ministerial visit to the company's facility in Ottobrunn. "Without networking in space, modern armed forces cannot survive, and this satellite data is the key to military reconnaissance, communication, and also target acquisition."

Metzler welcomed the minister with this message during the visit to the space company. The unanimous opinion of both men: The path of the Bundeswehr inevitably leads into space.

Lessons from Ukraine

The war in Ukraine has demonstrated how vulnerable armed forces become when satellite-based reconnaissance, communication, and target acquisition fail. The most prominent example is private provider Starlink, which temporarily shut down its services.

Germany's Sovereign Satellite Ambitions

According to Minister Pistorius and the Bundeswehr, Germany requires more of its own sovereign satellite capabilities. Satellites can be built in Germany, as the minister witnessed earlier at OHB in Bremen.

Rheinmetall is also currently constructing a satellite production facility on the Lower Rhine. The critical challenge remains how this technology reaches space — precisely the purpose of the €35 billion package announced by the minister in fall of last year.

The Launch Gap

For technology to reach orbit, two essential components are currently lacking across Europe:

• Launch sites
• Carrier rockets

Existing capacities at Ariane or at the spaceport in French Guiana are limited. Today, German and European satellites reach space almost exclusively aboard Falcon rockets from Elon Musk's SpaceX.