Signal Processing

Success in the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network Call 2024: New Project “SPARE” Awarded!

April, 2025: The Chair of Signal Processing, in collaboration with its consortium partners — most notably Heriot-Watt University and Thales Alenia Space — has achieved a remarkable success in the highly competitive 2024 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network call. The newly awarded project SPARE – Resiliency, Sustainability, and Competitiveness in Future Satellite Systems received an excellent evaluation by the European Commission, ranking among the top 6% of all engineering proposals submitted.
This outstanding result underscores the scientific excellence and ambitious vision of the SPARE project, which is set to officially launch in the coming months. Bringing together a strong and diverse consortium of academic and industrial partners from six countries — the UK, France, Spain, Italy, Hungary, and Germany — SPARE will train the next generation of experts at the intersection of satellite technology, space law, and space economics.
A total of 13 doctoral candidates will be recruited to address the critical technological, regulatory, and economic challenges shaping the future of satellite systems. The research will focus on boosting resiliency, sustainability, and global competitiveness across the space sector.
At the Chair of Signal Processing, led by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Andreas Knopp, our team will supervise several core research areas, including space-based spectrum sensing and sharing, space situational awareness, and optimization of ground segment operations.
The project will also benefit from the interdisciplinary expertise of Prof. Dr. Rafaela Kraus, Professor of Corporate Management and Leadership, and Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Müller, Head of the Chair of Strategic Management, who will contribute their knowledge in economic and organizational aspects to ensure a comprehensive, cross-disciplinary approach.
On the University of the Bundeswehr Munich (UniBw M) side, Dr. Thomas Delamotte played a central role in the proposal preparation — marking his second successful contribution to a winning Marie Curie proposal, following the currently running Industrial Doctoral Network HARMONY, in which UniBw M acts as the coordinating institution.
We look forward to the exciting work ahead!

GOSATCOM 2025

March 24-26, 2025: The “National Conference for Governmental Satellite Communications” (GOSATCOM) was celebrating its tenth anniversary this year and was once again held at the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Munich. With an constantly growing number of participants, the conference underlines its claim to unite the entire German community in the field of governmental satellite communications and to provide a platform for exchange between governmental users, procurers and planners as well as industry, science and research institutions.
Under the motto “SATCOM in Europe: Sovereign and crisis-proof”, the conference was characterized by the current upheavals in the European and national security environment. The organizers of GOSATCOM 2025 around Prof. Dr. Andraes Knopp are particularly proud and grateful that they were supported at the opening of the conference by the State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection Bernhard Kluttig, and the patron of the conference MdB Florian Hahn.
The Bundeswehr's perspective on the use of satellite communication for networked combat management in all dimensions and the necessary protection of such systems was made clear in the keynote speeches by the Deputy Inspector General for Cyber and Information Space, Major General Jürgen Setzer, and the Commander of the Space Command, Major General Michael Traut, in the session “Resilient Space Architecture 2029 Target Vision”. The keynote speeches from the Federal Ministry of Defense by Brigadier General Dr. Volker Pötzsch and the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection by Ministerialdirigent Marco-Alexander Breit clarified the demands.
The industry's response to these new demands and possible contributions to a self-sufficient and secure space infrastructure were presented by Sabine von der Recke (OHB System AG), Dr. Yan Venot (Airbus Defence and Space GmbH), Philippe Glaesener (SES Space & Defence) and Alessandro Cardoso (Eutelsat OneWeb).
Over the course of the three days, several specialist presentations, workshops and a panel discussion took place in which experts from science and industry highlighted current trends and challenges in satellite communication. Topics such as the integration of satellite communication into the digital infrastructure, the importance of cyber security and the development of sustainable technologies were at the center of the discussions.
This year's GOSATCOM offered two special highlights: The presentation of the TESSA Award for an outstanding dissertation in the field of satellite communication, which was awarded to Dr. Christopher Schmidt's work "Optical Communication on CubeSats", and the signing of the cooperation agreement for the flight operation of Athene 1 by Prof. Dr. Andreas Knopp and Prof. Dr. Felix Huber. The signed agreement enables the German Space Operations Center (GSOC) to operate the Athene 1 satellite, a small satellite being developed as part of the SeRANIS research project at the University of the German Armed Forces.
A highlight at the end of the first day was certainly the panel discussion "SATCOM in the Bundeswehr - Secure. Resilient. Global" in which, under the moderation of Uli Bobinger, the speakers Setzer, Traut, Breit and Pötzsch together with Andreas Knopp discussed the future of satellite communication in the Bundeswehr, which is characterized by upheaval and innovation.
On the second day of the conference, interesting and exclusive insights into various national and European satellite programs were provided.
Visitors were also able to learn about new technologies for resilient satellite communication and discuss the supply and demand for satellite communication in the BOS under the topic of “Governmental Services”.
The 2025 conference ended with two parallel workshops on the topics of minimum protection for resilient space systems and national user requirements for IRIS².
GOSATCOM 2025 at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich once again demonstrated that satellite communication is a key technology of the future. The participants left the conference with new ideas, inspiration and a clear view of the challenges and opportunities that the industry will face in the coming years.

Orbint: Innovative Solutions for Satellite-Based Signal Intelligence

February 26, 2025: As a spin-off from the SeRANIS space research project of dtec.bw at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich, Orbint builds on years of accumulated expertise. The company prioritizes the German and European supply chain to ensure sustainable technological sovereignty in intelligence and the broader space sector.
Recently, Orbint had the privilege of presenting its capabilities to a distinguished audience at the MSC Space Night 2025, an event organized by the BDI's NewSpace initiative as a side event of the Munich Security Conference. The gathering brought together approximately 400 guests from the security and defense industry, politics, and the German Armed Forces to discuss the strategic importance of space for security, sovereignty, and innovation in Germany and Europe. Among the attendees was EU Commissioner for Defence Andrius Kubilius.

*dtec.bw – Digitalization and Technology Research Center of the Bundeswehr – is a scientific center jointly supported by both universities of the Bundeswehr and part of the German government's economic stimulus program to overcome the COVID-19 crisis. With its inclusion in the German Recovery and Resilience Plan (GRRP), dtec.bw is funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU.