BREMEN (dpa-AFX) - Space technology group OHB is growing once again. In fiscal 2022, the company increased sales by around four percent year-on-year to around 944 million euros, as the listed company announced at an annual press conference in Bremen on Wednesday. Earnings before interest and taxes (Ebit) were around 63 million euros. In the previous year, the figure was around 47 million euros. The Bremen-based group is one of Europe's leading space companies and expects to continue growing in the coming years.

At present, Europe is in a transitional phase in which there is a lack of rockets to put satellites - including those from OHB - into orbit, said CEO Marco Fuchs. However, the economic impact of the situation on the company last year was not material, the annual report said.

The European Ariane 6 launcher for heavy payloads is not yet available. The medium-weight Russian Soyuz launcher is no longer usable because of the war. The smaller European Vega-C recorded a launch failure in December 2022. This is one of the reasons why OHB is working on building its own so-called microlauncher, a small, modern launch vehicle. One such project is RFA One from Rocket Factory Augsburg, in which OHB holds a stake.

In addition, OHB is participating in a project to launch a space launch vehicle in the North Sea. There is to be a first test launch this year, said Management Board member Sabine von der Recke./lkm/DP/tih