OHB SE

OHB SE originated from Otto Hydraulik Bremen GmbH, a small hydraulics and marine systems firm established in 1958. The company was acquired by Christa Fuchs in 1981, and when her husband Manfred Fuchs joined in 1985 after leaving his position as Director of Aerospace at ERNO/MBB, they redirected the company's focus toward space technology. This transformation marked the beginning of OHB's evolution into one of Europe's leading space companies. In 1991, the company was renamed Orbital- und Hydrotechnologie Bremen-System GmbH, and a new headquarters near the University of Bremen was opened in October 1988. Today, OHB SE is headquartered in Bremen, Germany, and has grown into a major European aerospace and technology group with expertise spanning satellite systems, orbital infrastructure, and space exploration technologies. OHB has achieved significant milestones including development of BremSat (one of Germany's first small satellites, 1994), delivery of the SAR-Lupe radar reconnaissance system for German armed forces (2007), construction of ten of the fourteen Galileo satellites currently in orbit, and all six Meteosat Third Generation weather satellites (first launched December 2022). The company continues to expand its capabilities through subsidiaries like MT Mechatronics, which is building support structures for major ground-based telescopes including the Giant Magellan Telescope. OHB's success demonstrates the European private space sector's growing capabilities in satellite manufacturing, Earth observation, and space infrastructure.