Overview
- A Bremen-led consortium that includes OHB is developing a specialised ship with a launch ramp to carry out a suborbital rocket demonstration from a floating platform.
- OHB and partners say the launch hardware and platform design are technically ready, but the mission has been delayed repeatedly because required paperwork from authorities was missing.
- The plan originally called for the ship to be homeported in Bremerhaven and for a launch from the Entenschnabel in Germany’s exclusive economic zone, but no final site has been approved.
- OHB CEO Marco Fuchs said the search for launch locations has expanded beyond the North Sea to the wider Atlantic and potentially equatorial waters to gain trajectory and latitude benefits.
- The project’s next steps now hinge on regulatory clearance and a firm site decision, which will set a timetable and shape Germany’s participation in the growing market for flexible sea-based small-rocket launches.