Location

Centre for aeronautics and space industries

More than 140 enterprises and 20 science institutes power the aeronautics and space industries in the German federal state of Bremen. More than 12,000 employees in the industry generate revenues of more than 4 billion euros per year. Leading companies such as the Airbus Group, ArianeGroup, Rheinmetall Electronics, OHB, and their suppliers contribute significantly to this success. The companies’ economic success is founded on their employees’ excellent qualifications. To ensure that this situation can be maintained and further improved, the federal state of Bremen invests heavily in future developments: interdisciplinary and intersectoral research and development strengthen the location and create synergy effects with other strong industries in Bremen. As such innovations and sustainable future applications are being created in the fields of materials research, digitization, and robotics.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused considerable difficulties for the aeronautics and space industry. Physical meetings were previously considered essential for successful collaboration. The restrictions, which have now lasted longer, clearly show companies that future collaboration will have to take place virtually more often. At the same time, virtual collaboration offers considerable opportunities for the introduction of data-driven innovations, including in the field of artificial intelligence. To support the companies and institutes, in particular also with the Virtual Product House and Digital Clean Room initiatives, the Bremen aeronautics and space actors have registered the GAIA-X demand example Digital Aeronautics and Space Collaboration Labs (DASCLab) in the “Industry 4.0/SME” domain.

Aeronautics

With approximately 4,500 employees, Bremen is the second-largest Airbus plant in Germany, manufacturing the high-lift systems of all Airbus programs. The entire process chain, from the design to manufacture and integration through to testing, is established here. This includes the project office, technology and systems engineering, flight physics, structural development and assembly, verification tests, wing equipping and delivery.
For the A400M transport aircraft, Bremen develops and manufactures the integrated fuselage section including the cargo loading system. In the field of materials and process development, new technologies are being researched and developed through to series production in Bremen. In short: Airbus relies on the aeronautics expertise of Bremen, which can be traced back to 1910.

Space

For more than 50 years, Bremen has helped develop and manufacture satellites and carrier rockets for space and our expertise in the field continues to orbit the globe. Bremen can look back at its achievements with pride: the science laboratory Columbus and the cargo spacecraft ATV, which were Europe’s contribution to the International Space Station ISS, were both built by Airbus. The service module of the new NASA spacecraft Orion is also integrated at the Airbus site in Bremen. In addition, Ariane rockets have always included parts made in Bremen, as ArianeGroup has been integrating the upper stages of the launch vehicles here since 1979 and can now look back on more than 240 successful launches. OHB is a global player with its space systems division in designing and producing Earth observation and communication/navigation satellites. Based on this unique portfolio, Bremen plays a leading role in shaping the national and European space programs.

Industry meets science

As a prime location for aeronautics and space, Bremen brings together business and science within the framework of a unique research infrastructure. Cutting-edge research in Bremen and Bremerhaven consistently drives development and progress forward, particularly in the field of materials sciences, remote sensing, bionics and robotics.

This dynamic network of Aeronautics and Space companies benefits from the close proximity to various scientific institutes and research facilities found here – Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the Fraunhofer Institute and the Institute of Environmental Physics. Innovative companies located in the region reflect the wide range of competencies and skills present in the German federal state of Bremen.