Rocket launch site project: From the North Sea into space

An alliance of German companies is planning rocket launches from a ship in the North Sea. The companies anticipate a strong increase in demand for the transport of smaller satellites.

So far, the project has only been available as a model on the scale of a model railway plate: It shows a cargo ship on which a rocket is stored. If the German companies of the German Offshore Spaceport Alliance, GOSA for short, have their way, a real rocket should fly into space from a ship as early as 2023.

The planned launch site is in the middle of the North Sea, around 400 kilometers from the German mainland. The reason for resorting to the sea: On the German mainland, a launch pad would hardly be able to be built for safety reasons. The country is too densely populated; too many people would be at risk in the event of an accident.

Great need for new satellites

The companies behind GOSA – space companies, satellite suppliers, engineers and a shipping company – expect good business and an upswing for the German space industry as a whole from the launch site in the North Sea.

Smaller satellites only need smaller rockets. The orbits should be “close to the earth”. Possible applications are primarily communication and analysis satellites – for agriculture, mining, satellite-based navigation or even in military reconnaissance. A mobile launch platform could offer low-cost conditions, especially for high-tech start-ups that could have their technology transported cheaply into space in this way.

The main reason for the optimism of the initiators are forecasts that around four times as many satellites will be launched into space by 2028 than in the previous ten years. “We will see in the coming years that there will be a great need, and for that we need start-up opportunities,” said GOSA spokeswoman Sabine von der Recke.

Letters of intent, but no firm commitment yet

In Berlin today, GOSA presented new partner companies from the rocket industry, including from Great Britain and the Netherlands. They signed letters of intent: a further step on the way to the first rocket launch. The Federal Minister of Economics was present and found encouraging words. However, Peter Altmaier did not have a binding commitment to state financial aid with him. The political decision on the offshore launch site will therefore only be made after the federal election.

For Altmaier, however, one thing is clear: If the launch site comes in the North Sea, Germany wants to play. The state would become one of the “anchor customers,” he said. During his tenure as Minister of the Chancellery during the Ukraine crisis it became clear to him that Germany had no means of providing information from space: “We had to rent satellites. A real country also needs real satellites.”

Conceivable, but also feasible?

Now a feasibility study should bring more clarity, especially on legal issues. After all, the project is a novelty. Legal questions and compatibility with shipping and fishing are still open.

GOSA is assuming a financing requirement of 27 million euros until the first start. Without public grants, the project could prove to be inefficient. But if the predictions of the initiators are correct and the launch site becomes a reality, this should represent an enormously important milestone for Germany’s space industry.