Frankfurt/Main (dpa/lhe) - Hesse's Prime Minister Boris Rhein (CDU) sees great potential in space travel for the state. At the first "Hessen in Space" conference in Frankfurt on Friday, Rhein promised: "We will continue to advance Hessen as a space location. In doing so, we are also relying on better networking of the relevant actors in our state."
Hessen is an important location, among other things because of the European space flight control center ESOC and the organization for meteorological satellites EUMETSAT in Darmstadt. Universities and companies are also exploring space and are thus advancing technical innovations.
"When it comes to space, many think of science fiction. Space travel is already doing something important for all of our lives," said Rhein. "Images from space not only provide us with important insights into the state of our earth, the satellites also warn of extreme weather events, provide people with fast internet and ensure that we can find our way around the world." Space travel will become even more important in the future.
Around 175 participants had registered for the conference, including the Hessian space coordinator Johann-Dietrich Wörner and astronaut Alexander Gerst. "I am pleased that the importance of space travel is being recognized in many federal states," said Gerst, according to a statement from the ministry. The European Space Agency ESA is looking forward to intensifying cooperation with Hesse.
