Our year 2022 in review

DEAR ACTORS OF THE CITY OF AEROSPACE,

AVIASPACE BREMEN e.V. looks back on a successful and inspiring year 2022, a year of new beginnings in the aeronautics and space cluster and of numerous events. International networking opportunities and the advancement of promising new developments allow the industry to look towards the new year with excitement and confidence.

GERMANY AND NORTHERN GERMANY

16th Day of the German Aviation and Space Regions

At the beginning of May, everything evolved around the 16th Day of the German Aviation and Space Regions. The event was hosted in Bremen by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection, the German Aerospace Industries Association’s Regional Forum, Bremen’s Ministry for Economic Affairs, Labour and Europe along with the AVIASPACE BREMEN e.V. network at the ECOMAT (Center for Eco-efficient Materials & Technologies). The title of the event was, “SMEs support climate-neutral flying.” In the presence of the Federal Government Coordinator of German Aerospace Policy, Dr Anna Christmann, and Bremen’s Minister for Economic Affairs, Labour and Europe, Kristina Vogt, topics relating to climate protection and digitization in the aeronautics and space industry were discussed. Participants also had the opportunity to take part in company tours of Airbus, DSI Aerospace Technology, Ariane Group, ZARM, DLR and OHB. The press release and the video of the event – with a statement by Dr Christmann (MdB) – can be found here.

Leaders from the northern German aviation industry meet in Bremen

On 6 October more than one hundred and twenty executives and professionals from the aviation industry met at ECOMAT (Center for Eco-efficient Materials & Technologies) for the 7th Northern German Aviation Forum in the Bremen airport city. At this event, the current challenges facing the aviation industry, with a focus on supply chains and Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS/drones), was discussed. More on the AVIASPACE YouTube channel.

The conclusion of the event: with their existing competences, the aviation clusters in northern Germany want to and will play a decisive role in shaping the future of aviation. In Bremen, the Bremen Aeronautics and Space Research Programme (Bremer Luft- und Raumfahrt-Forschungsprogramm) will expand from 2023 onwards with more than 10 million Euros from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and under the leadership of the Bremen Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Europe. Click here for the press release.

AVIASPACE ASSOCIATION

ROADSHOWS

In spring 2022, a visit to Hanseatic Aviation Solutions GmbH was on the agenda. The airplane-like drones developed by Hanseatic took off from the Rotenburg (Wümme) airfield. They are used, for example, to track down people who are in distress at sea. An insight video of the on-site visit – with explanations by Hanseatic Managing Director Michael Schmidt – can be found here.

From Rotenburg (Wümme), the journey went to Hatten. At the airfield there, b.r.m Technologie- und Managementberatung invited AVIASPACE members from the Oldenburg-Bremen region to a roadshow on their premises. The Bremen-based company is developing the Hatten-Oldenburg airfield for drones/Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). An article and a video of the visit on site and with an introduction by b.r.m. managing director Harald Rossol, is available here.

FROM THE WORKING GROUPS

Members of AVIASPACE BREMEN e.V. also organised internal meetings and working groups to promote core topics of the dynamic aeronautics and space cluster in Bremen. Read more about the trade fairs, events and projects in the working groups (WG) Internationalisation, Digitization/AI and Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) below:

Digitization/AI Working Group

With the project launch of COOPERANTS (Collaborative Processes and Services for Aeronautics and Space) on 11 February, the GAIA-X use case DASCLab (Digital Aeronautics and Space Collaboration Labs) celebrated a great success. The COOPERANTS lighthouse project serves the DASCLab use case and is also home to numerous players in Bremen’s aeronautics and space sector. The project, which will run until the end of 2024, aims to advance digitization within the industry and to develop more efficient, decentralised forms for future working methods and processes throughout the entire
life-cycle of space or airborne vehicles. AVIASPACE BREMEN e.V.  is close to signing the contract to drive the commercialisation of the project.

Digitization is also advancing in aviation. With the Virtual Product House (VPH) in Bremen, the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) pursues the goal of establishing an integration and test centre for the virtual simulation and approval of components and technologies as well as their integration into the complete aircraft in close cooperation with industry partners, science and authorities. The renewed funding is intended to advance the consolidation of the VPH at its Bremen site and to involve the partners even more closely.

Internationalisation Working Group

Space Economic Mission to Zuid-Holland

From 18 to 20 May 2022, a delegation around Minister Vogt went on the “Bremen Space Economic Mission to the region of Zuid-Holland (Netherlands)”, where 80% of the Dutch space activities take place. The focus of the mission was on establishing contacts between Dutch and German companies and institutes. On the agenda: company visits, networking events and matchmaking events between actors from the “Bremen City of Space” and from the province in the south of Holland. Click here for the press release.

The ESA BIC Northern Germany is growing

The Startup Days in Lübeck were the highlight of the month of June. The event video, which also covers the share of Bremen’s ESA BIC Northern Germany, can be found here. Background: Since 2021, the ESA Business Incubator Northern Germany has also opened its doors to startups in Schleswig-Holstein. This extension of the ESA BIC network in Lübeck is jointly operated by the Technikzentrum Lübeck (TZL), AZO and the AVIASPACE. Incubation management is handled by TZL and its accelerator GATEWAY49. One of the first incubatees on site is Unleash Future Boats GmbH, which successfully made the step out of startup status in 2022.

ILA Berlin exceeds expectations

ILA Berlin – from 22 to 26 June 2022 – attracted worldwide attention with over 1,000 international exhibitors from the aeronautics and space sector. The space location of Bremen traditionally made a strong presentation at the trade fair grounds on the outskirts of Berlin Airport (Berlin Expo Center Airport). Please read the press release.

Next stop: IAC Paris

The journey continued in September. During the IAC Paris in September 2022, the German federal state of Bremen once again positioned itself as a forward-looking location for the next generation of industry professionals, with the motto: Launch your career in Bremen. Visitors were invited to learn more about the aeronautics and space players as well as training and study opportunities in Bremen. You can find the press release here.

Space Tech Expo Bremen

Last but not least, Bremen invited the international space industry to Europe’s largest trade event, Space Tech Expo Europe, for the fifth time in 2022. From 14 to 18 November, 500 space companies and around 5,000 experts from all over the world met at MESSE BREMEN. Click here for the STE trade fair update 2022.

From Bremen’s point of view, one focus of the event was once again on the space cooperation between the regions of Zuid-Holland and Bremen, which was officially reaffirmed during the fair with the publication of the new edition of a joint “Action Agenda”. The agenda contains agreed activities to further build on pilot projects and to advance cooperation in the fields of digitalisation and materials research.  Click here for the video.

ESA BIC Northern Germany to be further developed

At the beginning of November 2022, the Senate of the State of Bremen agreed to extend the ESA BIC Northern Germany programme for another five years (until the end of 2027). The Minister for Economic Affairs, Labour and Europe thus created the financial and organisational framework conditions for the continuation and further development of the space incubator [press release].

In addition, the Bremen ESA Incubator 2022 presents some new and consistently promising programme participants, including Blue Orbit Space Systems, iorbit, PhySens and Werover. Already in their second year of incubation at the ESA BIC are: Flucto, ASTRAIT, AcquahMeyer Drone Tech., Unleash Future Boats (Schleswig-Holstein) and TRILITEC. Make a quick note: The next application deadline for the ESA BIC Northern Germany is 5 February 2023.

Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Working Group

In September 2022 the working group on Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) met. The foundation goes back to the initiative of Harald Rossol, Managing Director of the member company b.r.m. Technology and Management Consulting. Harald Rossol is pursuing the goal of establishing a so-called U-Space between the airfield in Hatten and the island of Helgoland. The U-Space concept can be imagined as a new management system for airspace that is being developed specifically for drone flights. Read more about U-Space for drone test flights in compliance with the EU Drone Regulation 2021/664 in Hatten, in this AviaSpace news article.

After an initial meeting at the airfield in Hatten as part of an AVIASPACE BREMEN e.V. roadshow, participants met for further exchange on 10 November at BITZ. In 2023, the circle of participants is to be expanded in order to work out concrete goals.

Do you also want to get involved with AVIASPACE Bremen e.V.? The working groups Internationalisation, Digitization/AI and Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) offer members an excellent platform for this!

New members

We are very pleased that we have been able to recruit further companies as members of the association this year. AVIASPACE BREMEN e.V. and its members welcome Ingenieurbüro aerostructure consulting, benntec Systemtechnik GmbH, TRIGO Qualitaire GmbH, Thomas Cramer Beratung & Training, FTI Engineering Network GmbH, VOLCON Lamberti Consult and Hanseatische Waren Handelsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG!

OUTLOOK FOR THE YEAR 2023

In short: many good reasons to look forward to 2023 and the further development of Bremen as an aeronautics and space hub. We are looking forward to it! Mark the Aeronautics & Space Innovative Technology Summit (AITS) from 28 February to 2 March 2023 into your calendars. By clicking on the AITS registration link, you will find with special registration conditions for AVIASPACE members.

Happy Holidays and a healthy New Year!

The AVIASPACE team is still at your disposal at the following address.

AVIASPACE BREMEN e.V.

Fahrenheitstraße 1

28359 Bremen

Germany

T +49 421 2208 275

E info@aviaspace-bremen.de

This project is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).