OHB's Record Backlog Powers a Two-Pronged Expansion: Venus Probe and Next-Gen Spacecraft

OHB's UK subsidiary wins €24M ESA Venus mission contract; record order backlog of €3.35B fuels international expansion and partnership with Dassault.

OHB SE is pressing ahead on two strategic fronts — building out a new British space hub while deepening ties with a French aerospace giant — both backed by the strongest order book in the company's history. The Bremen-based space and technology group has entered a phase of unusually broad international momentum.

The most tangible near-term milestone comes from its fledgling UK subsidiary. OHB Space UK, which launched its operations just over a year ago in Bristol, has landed its first major institutional contract. It will handle the integration and test campaign for EnVision, the European Space Agency's Venus science mission, under a contract with prime contractor Thales Alenia Space worth around €24 million. The Bristol team, currently 14 engineers, is set to expand to more than 100 over the next five years, and the company is building one of England's largest cleanrooms at the new Aztec West site to integrate and test satellites.

That expansion is unfolding in parallel with a separate European cooperation. Together with Dassault Aviation, OHB has submitted a design for the VORTEX-S multi-purpose spacecraft to the ESA, which is now evaluating the proposal. The partnership strengthens OHB's network of institutional partners and its ability to compete for complex European missions.

Both initiatives rest on a rock-solid financial foundation. OHB's order backlog surged to €3,354 million at the end of the first quarter of 2026, up from €2,314 million a year earlier, a record level. The biggest single contributor was a €248 million contract for the EPS-Sterna microsatellite constellation won by OHB Sweden — the subsidiary's largest ever order. Group revenue rose 15 percent to €200.8 million in the quarter, while the adjusted EBITDA margin reached 9.7 percent. A separate performance metric, the total performance, came in at just under €279 million, with the adjusted operating result at roughly €27 million. The equity ratio stood at nearly 30 percent, giving management ample room for long-term investment.

The company's role as Germany's largest supplier to the Ariane 6 programme also provided a lift. On February 12, the more powerful Ariane 6 configuration completed its maiden flight — the first of 18 planned launches for Amazon's LEO constellation. OHB is targeting an average annual order intake of around €3 billion over the medium term, and management has explicitly stated that a delisting is not under consideration, keeping the stock exchange listing in place for now.

Investors will get further detail on the growth trajectory at the Capital Markets Update on May 18, followed by the annual general meeting on June 8.