Germany may have its own spaceport

German Minister of Economics and Energy Peter Altmaier said that he will study the proposal of the President of the Federal Association of German Industry (BDI) Dieter Kempf on the need to build the country’s own spaceport. The words of the head of the ministry are quoted by the Bild newspaper.

Altmaier said that Germany is a world leader in satellite technology, which suggests the possibility of building its own spaceport. In addition, space flights will create thousands of jobs in Germany: the main provisions of the new law on outer space will be presented at the beginning of 2020. On October 18, Altmaier took part in the BDI Congress on Space Development, held in Berlin

German astronaut Ulrich Hans Walter explained that the Nordholz airfield (Lower Saxony) on the North Sea could be used as a base for the spaceport. According to him, construction work at the first stage would require about 50 million euros. Dieter Kempf, in turn, drew attention to the need to increase Germany's budget for space needs from the current 285 million euros to 700 million euros - a figure comparable to that allocated for these purposes in France.

In January it became known that the national law on outer space is intended to facilitate private investment in aerospace projects as much as possible. However, the law will not contain provisions regulating the extraction of resources in space, as demanded by aerospace companies. Instead, Berlin hopes to reach appropriate agreements at the UN level.