OHB-System is a medium-sized spaceflight

Spaceflight

Spaceflight is the act of travelling into or through outer space. Spaceflight can occur with spacecraft which may, or may not, have humans on board. Examples of human spaceflight include the Russian Soyuz program, the U.S. Space shuttle program, as well as the ongoing International Space Station...

 company located in Bremen, northern Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, which belongs to the OHB-Technology AG. OHB-System is a systems provider in the areas of telematics

Telematics

Telematics typically is any integrated use of telecommunications and informatics, also known as ICT...

, space technology, security and satellite services. The company was founded in 1958 as a marine systems outfitter and shifted its fields of activity toward aerospace engineering

Aerospace engineering

Aerospace engineering is the primary branch of engineering concerned with the design, construction and science of aircraft and spacecraft. It is divided into two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering...

 in 1981, when it was taken over by Prof. Manfred Fuchs. In 2009 OHB-System employed approximately 1,900 persons.

Projects

The company has been working on numerous prestigious national German and international projects related to small satellites, manned space flight as well as security and reconnaissance technologies.

• Examples of OHB satellite missions for telecommunication, earth observation and reconnaissance are BREMSAT, SAFIR 1&2, BIRD/RUBIN, ABRIXAS and the first German reconnaissance satellite system, SAR-Lupe
  SAR-Lupe
  SAR-Lupe is Germany's first reconnaissance satellite system and is used for military purposes. SAR is an abbreviation for synthetic aperture radar and "Lupe" is German for magnifying glass...
  
  .
• Examples of OHB microgravity facilities are the International Space Station
  International Space Station
  The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
  
   racks Fluid Science Laboratory
  Fluid Science Laboratory
  The Fluid Science Laboratory is a European science payload designed for use in Columbus built by Alenia Aeronautica Spazio and OHB-System. It is a multi-user facility for conducting fluid physics research in microgravity conditions...
  
  and European Physiology Modules
  European Physiology Modules
  The European Physiology Module is an International Standard Payload Rack for the Columbus Laboratory on board the International Space Station. The EPM rack was built by OHB-System in Bremen....
  
  .
• Projects OHB demonstrated at the 2006 Berlin Air Show included CONDOR/ARDS, an airborne modular reconnaissance system, and Mona Lisa, a study for planning and implementing a lunar exploration program.
• On 7 January 2010, the European Commission
  European Commission
  The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
  
   announced that the contract to build the first 14 operational satellites for the Galileo Global Satellite Navigation System was awarded to OHB System and Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL). Fourteen satellites will be built at a cost of 566m euros ($811m; £510m). The first two are expected to be ready in October 2012.