Kalkar, 30 September 2026. For two days Wunderland Kalkar was the meeting point of Germany's space and defence community. The third Mission-K, organised by MKS, centred on one question: how does Germany protect its infrastructure in space?
- Around 350 participants and more than 100 companies and start-ups. Powered by ArianeGroup and Evonik, supported by the Bundeswehr Space Command.
- Day 1: keynotes in the former control room, 15 walk-in domes in the Experience Colony. Day 2: three challenges, six teams, solution pitches in the cooling tower.
- ZDF heute journal, tagesschau, WDR, SpaceWatch.Global and David Matei reported from Kalkar.
"What flies around up there is critical infrastructure. It has to be protected," Alexander Kleinschmidt, co-founder and managing director of MKS, told tagesschau (translated). Mission-K brings together those who rarely sit at one table: armed forces, ministries, the space industry, start-ups and research.
Control room, domes, cooling tower
The event opened in the plant's historic control room. The venue gives the platform its name: the K in Mission-K stands for Kalkar. In the afternoon the Experience Colony followed: 15 walk-in domes in which companies showed their technologies, and a personal flight plan for every participant. To close the first day, a DeltaOrbit rocket engine fired live in front of the reactor building.
MKS took the stage as well: Leo Harling, co-founder of MKS, presented the company and its software for the armed forces.
Three Space Command challenges
On the second day six teams worked in the hangar on three challenges developed with the Bundeswehr Space Command:
- Non-kinetic, active defence to protect German space infrastructure, with ArianeGroup
- Passive protection of satellites through high-tech materials, with Evonik
- Secure satellite communication for mobile ground stations in the field
In the evening the teams pitched their solutions in the cooling tower, on Germany's largest pitch stage. Major General Michael Traut, Commander of the Bundeswehr Space Command, opened the pitches.
Taking space security out of the specialist bubble
ZDF heute journal was on site; its report "Krieg im All: Wie rüstet die Bundeswehr im Weltraum auf?" features voices from Kalkar. tagesschau and WDR reported as well, and SpaceWatch.Global covered both days. David Matei, one of Germany's most widely followed content creators on security policy, was also on site, among other things with a conversation with Major General Traut. Thanks to ArianeGroup, Evonik and all partners, speakers and challenge teams. The next Mission-K takes place on 5 and 6 October 2027.
„This dialogue is eminently important. That is why I am very, very grateful for forums like the one we have here, because they bring together people, companies and actors who do not necessarily belong to the classic space industry, and let them think out of the box.“
Major General Michael Traut, Commander of the Bundeswehr Space Command, on the Mission-K podcast (translated)