Typisch bremisch Typically “Bremish”

Technology Park and measures 288 square metres. This is
the space exploration building of the Robotics Innovation
Centre, a research department of the German Research
Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI). The building was
constructed in 2010 and is one of numerous highlights
that make Bremen an international stronghold for the
aerospace sector. More than 12,000 employees work in
this field for more than 140 companies and institutes. They
are involved in the construction and production of world
famous products such as the Airbus family, the Ariane
rocket and the “Galileo” satellite navigation system.
Space robotics: exploring craters with the “Sherpa”
The space exploration building is used not just for testing
so-called “rendezvous and capture” solutions which repair
a satellite and put it back on course, or push it towards the
earth’s atmosphere to make it burn up, thus reducing the
amount of scrap flying around in outer space. Numerous
other robotic systems are also optimised here for outer
space. A crater landscape measuring nine metres across
and with adjustable heights offers the possibility of inves -
tigating various ways of moving around in difficult terrain.
A wide range of different creatures can be found at play
here: spidery creatures such as the SpaceClimber and Crex
(Crater Explorer), a scorpion, a scarab and various monkeylike
robots. The Sherpa has wheels and carries its smaller
companions or other loads to the required location when
the need arises.
It might look like fun and resemble high-tech toys, but in
fact it paves the way for pioneering innovations that help
to improve the quality of life on earth. It can already be
said that nearly every person and every company uses
new technologies resulting from space travel. Together
with satellite communication (phones, television), this also
includes weather reports and navigation devices. Climate
research, environmental protection and search and rescue
missions together with rural land-use planning also advocate
massive use of satellite support.
Satellite technology: keeping an eye on the earth
In future, there will be even closer links between space
travel and applications on earth. The Federal Ministry of
Economics and Technology is therefore funding the
TransTerrA project in Bremen, with the aim of directly
transferring scientific findings from outer space to earthly
use. To this end, the DFKI is developing new solutions for
deep-sea deployment and for use in medical rehabilitation
as well as search and rescue missions. Space robotics has
been a focal aspect of the National Programme for Space
and Innovation already since 2009; this programme is
coordinated on behalf of the German government by the
Space Administration of the German Aeronautic and
Space Research Centre (DLR). “The great transfer potential
for robotic space systems consists in their robustness and
automation”, says Bernd Sommer from DLR Space Administration.
“They function autonomously and without
maintenance for long periods of time and across large
distances.”
While space robotics is a relatively young sphere of scientific
activity in Bremen, satellite technology has been
successfully pursued here for decades. One of the most
important players is the SME-structured company OHB AG,
which has altogether around 2,500 employees. Following
the takeover of what was formerly Otto Hydraulik Bremen
GmbH in the early 1980s, the Fuchs family, which still
provides two of the three Board members, turned the
company into Germany’s first listed aerospace Group in
Germany, with sites in several European countries and in
the USA. The greatest successes include the order to make
22 satellites for “Galileo”, the European satellite navigation
system. The aim is to provide global data for precise positioning,
with the first services being available from 2014
for air traffic control or for the coast guards, for example,
and also for private use.
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