Following the sudden death of Horst Rauck, the Supervisory Board and Management Board together with the employees of OHB SE are mourning the loss of a friend and great space pioneer. Horst Rauck died last Sunday, June 19, 2016, aged 78 years following a brief yet severe illness.
Born on May 22, 1938 in Offenbach am Main, Horst Rauck said of himself that he was fascinated by technology and this was indeed the case. He devoted his entire career as an engineer to space. Immediately after graduating with a degree in engineering from the Technical University of Darmstadt, he was recruited as the first employee of the newly established space department at MAN-Turbo in 1966. This decision was to have a positive effect on the rest of his career. In various positions, which included management board and supervisory board posts, he drove the development of gas centrifuges and systems for renewable energies for example. Together with his French colleagues, he played a key role in the plans for our Ariane launcher, which has enjoyed great success in the global commercial market to this day. From 1997 to 2002, he was a member of the management board of MAN Neue Technologie AG, which later evolved into MT Aerospace AG.
“We have lost in Horst Rauck a long-standing friend and one of our great space pioneers,” says Marco Fuchs, CEO of OHB SE. And Christa Fuchs, Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of OHB SE, adds: “Horst Rauck particularly made an outstanding contribution to the development of the European Ariane launch vehicle. He was one of the few who were convinced from the very outset of the necessity of Europe having its own autonomous access to space and was fully dedicated to Ariane.”
Rauck was always committed to furthering the national and international interests of the German aviation and space industry, attaching particular importance to close ties between research and business throughout his entire life. His contributions were recognized both nationally and internationally with the award of the German Bundesverdienstkreuz and the French Knight of the Legion of Honor.
Even after the end of his active career, Horst Rauck continued his dedication to aviation and space as the chairman of IFR e.V. (Internationaler Förderkreis für Raumfahrt Hermann Oberth – Wernher von Braun) and a member of the board of trustees of Munich Aerospace among other things.
His death is a great loss for us all. He shared his wealth of experience with us, providing us with much useful advice on the development of our Group, something for which we are most grateful to him. We will miss his advice and friendship.
The staff at the OHB Group will remember him with honor and gratitude.
Christa Fuchs
Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of OHB SE
Marco R. Fuchs
Chief Executive Officer of OHB SE
Contact for media representatives:
Marianne Radel
Head of Corporate Communications
Phone: +49 421 2020 9159
Email: marianne.radel@ohb.de
Contact for investors and analysts:
Marcel Dietz
Investor Relations
Phone: +49 421 2020 6426
Email: ir@ohb.de