Next step Gaia-X: OHB companies involved in project for digital transformation of the aerospace industry

Bremen, 16.02.2022 – Gaia-X, the European project for establishing a secure, high-performance and trustworthy data infrastructure, is has reached the space community in Bremen: with COOPERANTS ("Collaborative Processes and Services for Aeronautics and Space"), the foundations are being laid for the future secure exchange of data in aerospace programmes, and with OHB System AG, OHB Infosys and OHB Digital Services, three subsidiaries of the listed space and technology group OHB SE are participating in the recently launched project. The aim of COOPERANTS is to accelerate the digitalisation of processes and procedures in the aerospace industry. The project is being funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK) and has a total volume of more than 20 million euros.

The digital transformation is changing the space industry

The digital transformation is increasingly changing the products and working methods of the aerospace industry. This opens up a multitude of new opportunities for all those involved, but new challenges also arise in the course of the transformation. Although information is already being exchanged digitally, it is mostly in the form of electronic documents and not as data that can be directly processed in the respective digital infrastructures of the actors involved and on which they can also work collaboratively. However, the conversion to digital processes and the exchange of data by means of a cloud solution requires the compatibility of the data generated and required by the various actors. Currently, this often still not the case due to the complexity and heterogeneity of the systems used by the actors involved. The aim of COOPERANTS is to analyse these problems and to develop novel solutions based on Gaia-X principles. Gaia-X is a digital ecosystem that is currently being established at European level by representatives from business, science and politics. The ultimate goal of Gaia-X is to create a decentralised, networked and secure European data infrastructure in which data and services can be made available, shared and used in an open and transparent manner.

OHB contributes the perspective of an industrial end user of cloud solutions

COOPERANTS is being worked on by a consortium of twelve partners from seven different federal states. The consortium is being led by the German Aerospace Center (DLR). OHB System AG, OHB Infosys and OHB Digital Services represent the interests of the space industry and contribute the perspective of an industrial end user of cloud solutions. The focus is on the work packages "Governance", "Data Spaces" and "Advanced Smart Services".

"Gaia-X has the goal of establishing a secure and trustworthy European data infrastructure, and we at OHB are part of it! Gaia-X forms the foundation for COOPERANTS, and with COOPERANTS, the name says it all: we are laying the foundations today so that we will be able to implement major space projects together in larger consortia and teams tomorrow," says Pascal Vermeer, coordinator for COOPERANTS activities at OHB. "This fits perfectly into our digital strategy, but also suits Bremen; after all, in the "City of Space" we traditionally work very closely together on projects across companies."

Dr. Markus Junginger, OHB’s CIO, adds: "The German aerospace industry is facing strong international competition – not only innovative products but also innovative processes will determine its future competitiveness. With its tools and processes, COOPERANTS is making an essential contribution to ensuring that partners in future projects can work together more quickly, transparently and efficiently throughout the entire life cycle of a project or product."

COOPERANTS was officially launched on 11 February and will run for just under three years.

Disclaimer: COOPERANTS is funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK) based on a resolution of the German Bundestag.

About COOPERANTS

The COOPERANTS (COllabOrative Processes and sERvices for AeroNauTics and Space) lighthouse project will accelerate the digitalisation of processes in the aeronautics and space industry. The goal of the national consortium is to develop more efficient, decentralised future working methods and processes across the entire lifecycle of space or air vehicles. This will serve to increase the competitiveness of the aeronautics and space industry within Germany and the European Union. The project is embedded in the initiative of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) to develop innovative and practical applications as well as data spaces in the GAIA-X digital ecosystem. COOPERANTS works on the digital platform Digital Aeronautics and Space Collaboration Labs (https://dasclab.eu), which was successfully registered by members of the Bremen City of Space as a GAIA-X use case in the domain Industry 4.0/SME at the BMWK in 2020.

The consortium is composed of partners from the German states of Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Bremen, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony and Thuringia. The consortium leader is the German Aerospace Center - Space Systems (DLR-RY). It includes the industrial partners Airbus Defence and Space, itemis and OHB System. The SMEs involved are neusta aerospace, RADIUSMEDIA, ScopeSET and ZARM Technik. As a startup, the company Valispace is part of the consortium. Scientific partners are DLR, the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence DFKI, the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU and the FZI Research Center for Information Technology.

The project is supported by AVIASPACE BREMEN, ArianeGroup, ESA BIC Northern Germany and the KI-Transfer-Zentrum Bremen.

The COOPERANTS project (https://dasclab.eu/cooperants) is registered with the Federal Network Agency under the FKZ 68GX21003.