Astrofactum GmbH has secured OHB Venture Capital GmbH as an investor and strategic partner. OHB Venture Capital is a wholly owned subsidiary of the publicly listed space technology group OHB SE. Through this investment, astrofactum will primarily benefit from the OHB Group's 35 years of experience, which specializes in high-tech solutions for space. The investment also benefits from the company's extensive network in the research community.
Astrofactum was founded in 2014 with the long-term goal of providing a broad user group with access to astronomical applications from space. Its activities include both the conception and implementation of projects and the commercialization of the associated observation capacities.
"astrofactum is democratizing space. With our successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, not only scientists but also astronomically interested citizens will be able to explore the universe. The collaboration with OHB is an important milestone,"
so Heiko Wilkens, Managing Director of the Munich-based start-up.
New space telescope planned
OHB Venture Capital Managing Director Jochen Harms says:
“Astrofactum is right at the heart of our investment portfolio—a European company with a strong focus on space technologies and a strong service focus.”
Dr. Fritz Merkle, Member of the Management Board of OHB SE, added:
"Astrofactum's business ideas enrich OHB SE's portfolio in a completely new direction of applications and services in the field of astronomical research and a customer base from science, education, and amateur astronomy."
In a first step, the company will pool available terrestrial and satellite observation capacities and offer them to private and institutional users. This will establish a range of astronomical services for a global user community, and in a second step, will kick-start the "Public Telescope" space telescope project.
A new aspect of the business model is the unrestricted access for user groups such as private astronomers and people from the educational sector. For science, the space telescope is intended to close the gap for observations in the ultraviolet spectral range that will arise with the end of operations of the Hubble Space Telescope in 2020.
