HPS at Space Tech Expo 2024

November 2024

HPS at SpaceTech Expo Bremen: Full product portfolio of the entire group of companies at the presentation area of the Bavarian space companies (booth no. J53)

In record time, SpaceTech Expo in Bremen has developed into the largest and most important space trade fair in Europe. This year’s event has over 700 exhibitors. With its rapid growth, SpaceTech Expo in Bremen is itself the best example of the rapidly increasing importance not only of space capabilities in general, but also of the young NewSpace companies that are making powerful inroads into the commercial and institutional markets for space products and services.

However, a very special role is played by those companies whose portfolio serves both the New and Classic Space sectors, thus building a bridge between the two in-house. One of the most prominent examples is the HPS Group.

This innovator in European space-tech, with its headquarters in Munich, subsidiary HPS Romania in Bucharest and joint venture partnership HPTex in Münchberg near Bayreuth, is bringing all the product evidence for this positioning to Bremen.

For example, institutional customers looking for European solutions for large deployable reflector subsystems will find them at HPS, which will ideally play a constitutive role in upcoming iconic ESA earth observation missions such as “Cryorad” and “Hydroterra”.

The heart of these subsystems is also produced in-house: HPTex GmbH weaves reflective mesh surfaces of all sizes for deployable antennas. In addition, HPTex – with its own stand in Bremen now for the first time – even produces stainless steel mesh for training purposes for customers from all over the world.

Two representatives from Bucharest will also be present in Bremen; the main focus here will be on secondary structures, thermal hardware (MLI, thermal straps, radiators), MGSE and purge equipment. All products are scalable for large missions as well as for small satellites and cubesat missions.

However, literally “floating” above the overall portfolio of the HPS presence in Bremen is the star product of HPS, which is currently causing a worldwide sensation like no other, especially interesting for customers from the NewSpace scene: ADEO, the brake sail for the automatic controlled deorbiting of disused satellites of almost any size at the end of their mission. The reason for the ADEO hype is as simple as it is obvious: without technical equipment to guarantee a deorbit limited to a maximum of 5 years, satellites will no longer receive approval for launch on LEO. One technical option is the “manually controlled” descent. However, in addition to considerable personnel resources, it also consumes up to 60 percent of the fuel that should actually keep the satellite in orbit for as long as possible so that it can earn its money in the first place. The other option is to install a deployable brake sail on the satellite at the end of the mission, which then automatically brings its host “home”. The industrial world market leader for this technology on all continents is HPS from Munich; a live demonstration of the deployment of a PICO-class ADEO will take place at SpaceTech Expo at a date yet to be determined. This could be a highlight for all interested new customers. The flood of inquiries about prices and interfaces speaks volumes.

HPS CEO Ernst K. Pfeiffer himself will be on site for the entire duration of the trade fair alongside the management level of the group from Romania and Germany; he has a firm opinion on the event both as the company boss and as a spokesperson for SMEs in the industry, represented by the AKRK and the “Best of Space” association: “Europe’s non-dependence and sovereignty through its space industry is more important than ever before, especially after the presidential election in the USA. What we will see here in Bremen is the antithesis to the far too widespread phlegm of a bureaucratized industry and to the “we can’t do anything anyway” attitude that has been creeping in for some years now: fresh ideas, brashly and cheekily driven forward – that’s what space travel needs, including the “Made in Germany” seal. NewSpace and Classic Space are mutually dependent and stimulate each other, because even the most disruptive developments need to be anchored in the familiar and proven. This is also what we at the HPS Group stand for.”