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DW (English)
  • 7/3/2025
US and China still lead the space race, but startups in Germany and India are rising fast with reusable rockets and cargo tech to challenge the global giants.
Transcript
00:01Who will win the space race?
00:03The US and China are still far ahead.
00:06But Europe and the rest of Asia are catching up.
00:09With Phoenix, for example, the first space capsule
00:12from a private sector European company to reach space.
00:16Or brand new rockets developed by a start-up in Hyderabad, India.
00:21The race for space is already well underway.
00:24The final tests before launch.
00:27The team at Atmos in Germany is fully focused,
00:30even though today is just a simulation.
00:35Founder Sebastian Claus and his team have spent years
00:38designing a space capsule that can carry cargo into orbit
00:42and bring it back.
00:47We're not the ones manufacturing things or conducting research,
00:50but we make all of that possible.
00:52Think of space, in this case low-Earth orbit,
00:55as an industrial park.
00:57We're the transport company that moves goods in and out,
01:00the logistics specialists for space.
01:04Re-entry into Earth's atmosphere is one of the toughest challenges,
01:08which is why it's practiced again and again here at the company's headquarters.
01:13During the seventh test, everything went according to plan.
01:17I'm really proud of the team, but repetition is essential.
01:22In a real mission, things often go differently than expected.
01:26There might be a tactical malfunction,
01:28or a plane or ship might suddenly enter the landing zone.
01:32You have to be ready to respond in real time.
01:38Meanwhile, in Hyderabad in southern India,
01:41a team is building what they hope will be the rocket of the future
01:44in this modest workshop.
01:4624-year-old space engineer Jainul Abadeen founded Abayom.
01:52He's been dreaming of building rockets since he was a boy.
01:59India entered the rocket business in 1963,
02:02but even then the rockets weren't reusable.
02:05That made me wonder, why isn't space accessible to everyone?
02:09That's when my vision began,
02:11to develop rockets that can fly into space multiple times.
02:16Together with his team,
02:17he now wants to revolutionize Indian space flight.
02:20As a student,
02:21Abadeen received scholarships
02:23from the Indian Space Research Organization.
02:26With startup capital from the government,
02:28his own personal savings,
02:29and support from private investors,
02:31he eventually launched his company.
02:34His invention has already won several awards.
02:37Our next step is to develop our own fully functional,
02:41flight-ready rocket engine.
02:43That's our next big focus.
02:46We want to have commercial rockets
02:48that are fully operational and ready for launch by 2030.
02:53Back in Germany,
02:54this is what the Phoenix capsule looks like.
02:57Next door to the construction hall,
02:59engineers are calibrating the antenna for the first mission.
03:03Founder Sebastian Claus spent years looking for investors,
03:06and had to fund the initial tests with his own capital.
03:10Last year, for example,
03:12the US had around 150 rocket launches,
03:15followed closely by China,
03:17and we Europeans had just three.
03:19That's a major imbalance.
03:23And the same goes for funding.
03:25There's about five times more venture capital available in the US
03:29than in Europe.
03:31Back in India,
03:33where the who's who in Indian aerospace has gathered
03:36at the drone expo in Hyderabad.
03:38Many young engineers here
03:40are dreaming of starting their own space tech companies.
03:43And now, the government offers support
03:46through initiatives like Make in India.
03:48That's how the young start-up EON Space Labs got off the ground.
03:52We got where we are today thanks to support from Make in India.
03:57I'm proud that this year we'll reach space
04:00at an altitude of about 500 kilometers.
04:03And this will be the first product from a start-up to represent
04:07Make in India in space.
04:09The US and China are still way ahead
04:12in the race for new space technologies.
04:15One key reason,
04:16their willingness to invest in high-risk innovations.
04:23India is now in a very strong position
04:25to enter the space technology sector.
04:28There are about 50 to 60 space start-ups here,
04:31each focusing on different areas,
04:33such as rocket design, propulsion systems development,
04:36and satellite and payload manufacturers.
04:42When all of them come together,
04:44they will each contribute their own expertise.
04:47I believe we'll start seeing many more space launches
04:50from India within just two to three years.
04:55Back in Germany,
04:56final tests and preparations are underway.
04:59The Phoenix capsule will soon head for the airport,
05:02where it will be flown to the US.
05:04If all goes according to plan,
05:06we'll soon be seeing images of Germany's Phoenix capsule
05:09in orbit more often.

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