Challenge accomplished: OHB selects winners at INNOspace Masters

July 3, 2019. The INNOspace Masters ideas competition ended today with the award ceremony in Berlin. This year, the listed space and technology group OHB SE chose the winner of the OHB Challenge, who was simultaneously also the overall winner: the start-up ESDA-Axiotherm GmbH, led by Dirk Büttner from Bad Saarow near Berlin, celebrated a double victory. The team from ESDA-Axiotherm impressed the INNOspace jury with the development of a PCM polymer compound for the thermal stabilization of components and systems.  PCM is a phase change material, i.e. a material that can store a high proportion of heat and cooling energy and release it as required in phases as heat. When used in space travel, the compound can offset temperature fluctuations and thermomechanical loads.

INNOspace Masters is organized by the Space Administration of the German Aerospace Center as part of the INNOspace® initiative. AZO Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen, an international networking company for aviation and aerospace-related innovation competitions, has been holding INNOspace Masters since 2015 on behalf of DLR Space Administration.

OHB is participating as a official partner with its own challenge for the second time

This year, OHB is participating as an official partner with its own challenge for the second time. Once again, the motto of this year’s challenge, which is targeted at young companies, universities, research centers and individuals, is "Space Moves". Accordingly, the focus was on ideas and concepts exhibiting varying degrees of innovation and maturity for the different categories of the competition.  The OHB Group is also supporting the OHB Challenge team, which achieved second and third place. “Once again, a large number of very interesting ideas were submitted and it was not easy for us to select three ideas. We will be sitting down with the prize winners to explore possible joint space projects. This is an absolute win-win situation”, says Dr. Timo Stuffler, Head of Business Development at OHB System AG.

Second place in the OHB Challenge went to “Technology for Propulsion and Innovations T4i” from Italy. T4i is developing a low-cost propulsion system for small satellites. Johannes Schumacher from Celestial in Berlin came in third. His team are designing a satellite relay constellation in a polar lunar orbit to provide communications for the lunar poles. "Courage and passion. It’s all about it. OHB started like that. Make it happen", says Dr Lutz Bertling, Management Board member of OHB SE.

The INNOspace team is very pleased to welcome DB Netz AG as a new partner as of next year. DB Netz AG will be announcing a challenge of its own. “DB Netz AG is the first non-space company to contribute its own challenge. We are looking forward to this interdisciplinary partnership,” says Timo Stuffler.