Germany mulls domestic spaceport
Economy Minister Peter Altmaier has signaled that the government will consider building a space launch center after German industries demanded more to investment in space research and development.
Read more: German companies want a private German spaceport
"Space travel excites many people and creates thousands of jobs. We are leaders in satellite technology. Therefore, I will examine the suggestion of the Federation of German Industries (BDI) for a spaceport," he told the mass-circulation Bild.
German industry has called for the space innovation budget to more than double from €285 million ($318 million) to a level on par with France at more than €700 million.
According to BDI, German is ranked eighth in the world for space investments, even though it has the fourth largest economy in the world.
"The strength of Germany as a high-tech location is not reflected in the state of space investment," BDI head Dieter Kempf said at a space congress in Berlin last week.
A domestic spaceport would allow Germany to launch satellites and participate in the commercialization of space, according to BDI.
cw/rt (dpa)
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