The European Moonport Company is not a pure spin-off, but rather strategically anchored in Europe’s growing ambitions for the moon. Following the recent ministerial council conference of the European Space Agency ESA, Germany has taken a leading role, and OHB wants to leverage this momentum by consolidating its expertise in a specialized company.
Oberpfaffenhofen, near Munich, is already today a hub for space research and development in Germany. With the new moonport company, another center of competence is emerging there for a technology that could shape new markets and mission models in the coming decades – from launch and landing facilities to energy and communication systems through to logistics platforms for the lunar economy.
“The moon remains largely unexplored”
At the heart of the initiative lies not just technology development, but a strategic fundamental question: what role should Europe play on the moon? Niklas Voigt, Head of Think Tank at OHB, explains in an interview with Munich Startup:
“The moon remains largely unexplored. Open questions concern the moon’s formation, development, geology and resources, as well as the history of our solar system. A presence on the moon creates long-term economic, industrial and societal benefits and provides an environment for developing future technologies.”
This positions the project clearly beyond a single mission. The moon is understood as a scientific platform, a testing ground for new technologies, and as a potential economic space. According to Voigt, an ambitious lunar program could also “inspire new generations and attract science and engineering talent”.
Innovation center as an “integrative hub”
The European Moonport Company is meant to serve as an innovation center for lunar future visions. Specifically, it focuses on pre-development of key technologies – including communication, navigation, energy technologies, in-situ resource utilization (ISRU), and robotics.
Voigt describes the ambition as follows:
“The vision is to develop future scenarios for a long-term, sustainable lunar presence – following the ‘here to stay’ principle. This requires a strongly coordinated European approach and an industry consortium. An innovation center can serve as an integrative hub here.”
This brings coordination into focus: not individual players, but a European ecosystem of industry, research, startups and institutional partners should work together on infrastructure and applications. The innovation center should consolidate impulses, provide technological groundwork, and develop strategic frameworks.
Moonport as a base for infrastructure and value creation
In the long term, a permanent landing site – a “moonport” – is planned, which will serve as a base for infrastructure on the moon. This includes energy supply, communication systems, mobility solutions, habitats and protection mechanisms. Development should proceed gradually toward crewed missions and a permanent presence.
For Voigt, this also concerns Europe’s role in international competition:
“Europe must represent its own interests and values on a new strategic stage and help shape it.”
A European lunar ecosystem would create new value chains, expand technological capabilities, and position Europe as an equal player in the global “moon race”.
Political support from Bavaria
The project is also supported politically. Bavaria’s Minister President Markus Söder emphasizes in connection with the founding:
“We are space-minded! This is another step for Bavaria as a space valley for Germany and all of Europe. Aerospace and space are booming: we are creating a unique ecosystem in the Free State for many new jobs with now 12 billion euros in revenue and 38,000 employees. From Bavaria, we’re passing the ball with the federal government and ESA. As a state, Bavaria will invest over one billion euros by 2030 in aerospace and space alone – from universities and research through startup support to simplified settlement for defense and aerospace companies. While others cut back, we’re investing an extra billion euros in research and science for our Bavaria high-tech agenda. It works: Bavaria is now startup country number 1 and TUM and LMU are the two best universities in the EU.”
Relevance for startups and deeptech companies
With the European Moonport Company, a new point of contact is emerging in immediate proximity to Munich’s startup ecosystem for deeptech and spacetech companies. Topics such as energy, navigation, robotics, or resource utilization on the moon offer potential application fields for startups that want to participate in long-term European programs.
