Start-ups plan rocket airport in the North Sea

A consortium of companies plans to transport satellites into space from a ship. German and Dutch politicians support the idea. The first start-ups are now to sign letters of intent.

Small satellites could be launched from a ship in the North Sea from 2023. The idea comes from the Federation of German Industries (BDI) and already exists since 2019, last year the business consortium "German Offshore Spaceport Alliance" (Gosa) was founded. Now things are getting concrete: today, "several German and European rocket manufacturers" are to sign initial letters of intent with Gosa, as the Welt quoted from an invitation by the BDI. Among the participants are Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier, the Dutch ambassador Ronald van Roeden and people from the satellite industry.

As Welt writes, start-ups Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) and HyImpulse are said to be among the first signatories. Gosa wants to launch smaller rockets from a special ship with a launch platform in the North Sea, competing with several other sites in Europe. There is a launch site in Norway, for example, from which the German company Isar Aerospace plans to send rockets into space from 2022. There are also plans for sites in Scotland. The advantage of the ship: it is not firmly tied to one location.

The ship is to be 169 meters long, and rockets up to one ton and 30 meters long are to be able to take off from the deck. The German government has not yet committed itself to the announced start-up financing of 25 to 30 million euros; the decision will probably not be made until the next legislative period.