The Moon is increasingly becoming a focal point of international space strategies and is gaining importance as a future arena for geopolitical and economic activity. During her visit today to OHB’s Oberpfaffenhofen site, Federal Minister for Research, Technology, and Space Dorothee Bär therefore focused on the company’s lunar-related activities.
The minister was welcomed by Chiara Pedersoli, CEO of OHB System AG, and Sabine von der Recke, a member of the OHB Executive Board. The visit focused on OHB’s commitment to an independent and long-term European presence on the Moon. “For us at OHB, the Moon is more than a distant goal—it is part of our history and our future. From Bavaria, we are contributing our proven expertise in space exploration to actively help shape Europe’s path toward an independent and permanent presence on the Moon,” said Chiara Pedersoli, CEO of OHB System AG. The company has many years of expertise in lunar research: the Mona Lisa study demonstrated the feasibility of a small, unmanned lunar lander. This work continues with the ESA contract for Argonaut, under which OHB System is supplying the guidance, navigation, and control elements as well as the telecommunications and power supply systems for the European lunar landing.
However, to enable humanity’s permanent return to the Moon, larger-scale infrastructure is also needed: to this end, the European Moonport Company was founded in Oberpfaffenhofen earlier this year. “With the European Moonport, we aim to establish infrastructure that is open to many international partners and that will enable us to land safely on the Moon and take off again in the long term,” explains Sabine von der Recke, who is also a member of the new company’s executive board.
Activities related to future lunar missions within the OHB Group are being centralized in Oberpfaffenhofen. The site’s proximity to the DLR’s Human Exploration Control Center (HECC), which is currently under construction and which the minister and her delegation also visited, underscores its strategic importance for future crewed and robotic missions to the Moon and Mars.
The visit by the Minister of Space underscores OHB’s role as one of Europe’s leading industrial partners in space exploration and utilization—from Earth’s orbit to the Moon’s surface and beyond.
