On 31 May 2022, Prof. Christian Hofmann and Simon von der Au represented the University of the Bundeswehr Munich at the event “Bundeswehr im Dialog 2022” at the Berlin Congress Center.
There, they presented the Space Research Center of the University of the Bundeswehr Munich and, of course, the flagship research project SeRANIS. Together with colleagues from Fraunhofer EMI and DLR, they also represented the R&D sector of the Space dimension.
During a two-part workshop under the theme “Space is hard”, participants discussed the current and future relevance of the space domain and the role of research, particularly research at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich. Key themes that emerged during the discussion included the training of skilled personnel, the transfer and dissemination of specialized knowledge, and strengthening Germany as a high-tech location through research.
Space Infrastructure as a Critical Component
All workshop participants agreed that space infrastructure must be regarded as a critical component, as the entire digital society depends on it. Both the expansion and protection of this infrastructure must be advanced through cooperation between researchers and end users. Only through dialogue between the Bundeswehr and the research community can scientific innovations and military user requirements be transformed into valuable space technologies in the future. This dialogue is already being successfully implemented within the SeRANIS project.
At the end of the event, the workshop results were presented to the Minister of Defence in a large plenary session. It was an exciting day with many encounters and interesting conversations and connections that must certainly be continued.
