Airbus is positioning itself for Germany’s largest ever space undertaking, the Bundeswehr’s SATCOMBw 4 constellation, which could cost up to €10 billion. In order to secure the contract-expected to include at least 100 low‑Earth‑orbit satellites-the company is offering to build a new final‑assembly line in Germany. “Airbus is ready to set up a new LEO satellite assembly line in Germany” said Wolfgang Dürr, head of institutional space sales in Airbus’s defence and space division, to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Monday.
Drawing on its existing experience in serial production of LEO platforms, such as those for the OneWeb constellation, Airbus is already opening a new line in Toulouse that will manufacture an additional 440 OneWeb satellites. The company stresses that time is of the essence and that it can respond swiftly. Even if the satellite business is moved into a joint venture with rivals Thales (France) and Leonardo (Italy), Dürr insists that its services will continue to satisfy national requirements and that German components will retain a strong share of the supply chain.
For SATCOMBw 4, Dürr announced that a majority of the value chain would anchor in Germany. In the SATCOMBw 3 programme-whose contract Airbus secured two years ago-more than two‑thirds of the value chain was already German‑based.
Other suppliers could also enter the bidding process, including a potential consortium from the Düsseldorf‑based Rheinmetall and Bremen‑based OHB. A formal invitation for tenders is expected shortly.
Airbus employs roughly 9,000 people in the aerospace sector, of which about 3,600 work in Germany. The long‑strained defence and space arm, according to CFO Thomas Toepfer, has mounted a significant turnaround.