ESA, the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the German federal state of Bavaria and the German bank Kreissparkasse München Starnberg opened the fourth ESA Business Incubation Centre in Oberpfaffenhofen on 3 August. Over the next four years, some 40 company start-ups are expected to be supported there. From left to right: Frank M. Salzgeber (Head of Technology Transfer Programme Office in ESA), Thorsten Rudolph (Head of Anwendungszentrum GmbH), Martin Zeil (Bavarian Minister of State for Business, Infrastructure, Transport and Technology), Jean-Jacques Dordain (Director General of ESA), Prof. Johann-Dietrich Wörner (Chairman of DLR Executive Board) and Josef P. Bittscheidt (Chairman, Kreissparkasse München Starnberg).
ESA BIC Oberfpafenhofen is managed by the Application Center for Satellite Navigation Oberpfafenhofen (AZO). The other ESA BICs are located in Noordwijk (The Netherlands), Darmstadt (Germany) and Italy, near Rome.