From left: M. Munk (TESAT), R. Nentwich (MdL), Minister President W. Kretschmann, U. Rabenstein (TESAT), T. Reinartz (CEO TESAT), Mayor Backnang M. Friedrich, Dr. W. Pelzer (DLR Board Member)

Tesat opened a new production facility in Backnang, Germany, to manufacture the company’s laser terminals. 

Tesat is ramping up for industrialized production of its laser terminals, which were selected to support the Telesat Lightpseed constellation, built by MDA Space. Tesat will supply 792 of its SCOT80 optical communications terminal under the deal. 

The new facility has a floor space of 4,400 square meters and expands Tesat’s presence in Backnang, where the company is headquartered. Tesat started construction on the facility in June 2022. Representatives from the German Space Agency at DLR and local government officials attended a recent event to open the facility. 

Tesat claims that nearly one-tenth of all employees in the German space industry are employed in Backnang by Tesat.

“Satellite communication is a strategically relevant, commercially interesting future market for the German space industry. Laser communication and smart antennas in particular are the key components for efficiently handling the rapidly growing volumes of data transmitted in space. The series production that is being created here at Tesat is thus strengthening Germany as a space location,” commented Dr. Walther Pelzer, DLR Board Member and director general of the German Space Agency.