- Caroline Lange (DLR) and Hauke Ernst (Airbus) give an impressive global presentation on the exhibitor stage about the use of the COOPERANTS marketplace
- Caroline Lange (DLR) and John T.H. Dobson (neusta aerospace) as well as Hauke Hauke Ernst (Airbus) each represented COOPERANTS on a panel
- As part of the Space Tech Expo, the consortium successfully entered into dialogue with Kjell Bengtsson (Jotne) about a potential partnership with a positive outlook
Bremen, 14-16 November 2023: From 14 to 16 November, Space Tech Expo Europe took place for the seventh time in Bremen’s exhibition halls and was able to attract numerous visitors and exhibitors. This year’s event attracted around 650 exhibitors and 6,000 visitors from all over the world (source: Weserkurier).
This year’s Space Tech Expo once again offered many eye-catchers, including the cockpit of ArianeGroup’s “Susie” space glider, which was exhibited in its original size at the event. In addition, a new area of the exhibition centre was opened up for the first time this year, offering the opportunity to present pioneering future technologies, services and products to a plenary audience. The COOPERANTS consortium successfully used this opportunity on the first day of the trade fair to present the Gaia-X-based data ecosystem “COOPERANTS” – the digitalised future of collaboration in the aerospace industry. The collaboration platform and the marketplace are embedded in the Pontus-X test environment, where collaboration will later take place using smart services. The smart service “Prime Supplier Collaboration” and the marketplace as well as its use were clearly explained by Dr Caroline Lange and Hauke Ernst using pictures and videos. There was consistently positive feedback for the successful presentation.
The second day was also exciting; without a fixed programme, but with many interested parties with whom consortium members were able to engage in a lively exchange. Companies, especially young companies, expressed their desire to participate in the future marketplace as service providers.
The last day of the Space Tech Expo can be described as the crowning finale of the event, which surpassed the events of the previous days by far:
Starting with the panel on “Collaboration for Digitalisation: Why Working Together is Key for the Future of a Successful Digitalised Space Organisation”, Dr Caroline Lange was the moderator and John T.H. Dobson was a panel member. The panel focused on the following key elements for digitalised collaboration in the space sector: NewSpace, new players entering the market, the impact of regulations and certification in the space sector and data sharing, particularly with regard to Gaia-X and COOPERANTS. Dr Caroline Lange concluded: “We can observe steady growth in the market. Young companies are entering the market. Looking at the microlauncher sector, we have three promising future competitors in Germany alone that are planning to launch a rocket in the near future. This makes it all the more important in the coming years to create a secure and trustworthy infrastructure to provide the best possible support for up-and-coming ideas in the space sector and to establish international competitiveness in the long term. A huge number of regulations and certifications represent a major hurdle for entry into the sector, not least due to its dual-use nature. I see the Gaia-X lighthouse project “COOPERANTS” as a possible solution to the problems described above
At a later date, the COOPERANTS consortium received Kjell Bengtsson, Vice President of Jotne, at the Bremen “City of Space” Booth. Jotne had already expressed its interest in the Gaia-X lighthouse project in advance and took the Space Tech Expo Europe as an opportunity to discuss COOPERANTS again in person with Dr Caroline Lange. After an intensive exchange, Kjell Bengtsson once again confirmed his support and involvement in COOPERANTS.
Hauke Ernst took part in the last panel on “Understanding the impact of artificial intelligence on the space industry” and, in addition to his personal expertise as digitalisation manager at Airbus Defence and Space, contributed the newly created value creation opportunities that AI-based services and functions within the framework of COOPERANTS and Gaia-X will bring for future space missions, such as data integrity.
