Hannover Messe trade fair 21-25 April 2008

World’s only international platform ‘SpaceTransfer’ for space technology transfer to premier at the Hanover Fair 2008. The space sector is booming. New space programs and missions, including to Mars and the moon, demand a constant stream of new developments and cutting-edge technologies.

As the public and industry are often unaware, aerospace research has been responsible for a number of technological advances over the past few decades, including airbags, the ABS anti-lock braking system and navigation devices.

European industry is always in search of new technologies and processes, which it can apply to its own operations. With its propensity for innovation, the space industry represents a virtually inexhaustible source for this kind of technology transfer.

Space technology serves European citizens in many non-space applications

The HANNOVER MESSE 2008 (21 to 25 April) will be bringing together both parties — space and industry — in a competent and targeted manner. At the Research & Technology show in Hall 2, the SpaceTransfer08 event will function as an interdisciplinary platform for companies, which have already benefited from space technology transfer. The event includes a half-day conference featuring prominent entrepreneurs, researchers and astronauts, who will explain how successful technology transfer works.

Initiated by the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Technology Transfer Program Office (TTPO), the SpaceTransfer was conceived as a platform for more active promotion of technology transfer in Europe, as Frank M. Salzgeber, Head of ESA’s TTPO, explains: “European industry and the European aerospace sector are in different orbits and scarcely cross paths. This is simply because each of them has its own specialized exhibitions. The concept behind SpaceTransfer08 is to break through these barriers and bring a broad spectrum of industry together with the space industry.”