Aerospace companies in Baden-Württemberg develop and produce technologically high-quality products and are therefore leading players in Germany and Europe. Their products enjoy high national and international demand and are used throughout the world.

• Although a comparatively small industrial sector in Germany, the German aerospace industry has enormous strategic importance.

• In Germany more than 230 enterprises in the aerospace sector generate a total turnover of around 20 billion Euros and employ over 80,000 people.

• Many of the largest aerospace companies in the world, such as Airbus, Eurofighter, Eurocopter and EADS Astrium have sites in Germany. In addition the most advanced aircraft engines in the world are developed and produced in Germany, due to the presence of MTU Aero Engines GmbH and Rolls-Royce Deutschland Ltd & Co KG.

• In the aircraft industry, Airbus is the major impetus for the European and therefore also the German aircraft industry. Out of a total of 12 European sites, five are located in Germany alone.

• In the space industry, which is based principally in Bremen, Munich and Friedrichshafen, the focus of development is on highly complex individual items – such as the European COLUMBUS module for the ISS space station – or small series items “at the cutting edge of physics”.

• The percentage of industrial expenditure on research and development in the German aerospace industry is, at around 17% in relation to total turnover, significantly higher than in other important industrial sectors, such as the automotive industry.