Bremen – October 28, 2026 -- Christa Fuchs, who built a five-employee hydraulics repair shop into a space group with about EUR 1.2 billion in FY2025 revenue, received a special award for lifetime entrepreneurial achievement at the Deutscher Gründerpreis.
The jury cited her contribution to building one of Europe's leading space companies and her influence on the German and European space industry.
Fuchs took over Otto Hydraulik Bremen in 1981 with five staff
Fuchs, born in 1938, acquired the family-run firm at Hemelinger Hafendamm in 1981. It mainly repaired hydraulic ship systems for the German armed forces (Bundeswehr).
Her husband Manfred Fuchs joined in 1985 and steered the company toward space. He set the technology vision, while she managed the finances.
Bundeswehr and Galileo contracts made OHB Europe's third major space provider
OHB won the large Bundeswehr contract for the SAR-Lupe radar reconnaissance system in 2001. In 2010 it secured an order for fourteen satellites of the European Galileo navigation system. These wins established the company as Europe's third large space provider.
OHB joined the SDAX after a capital increase, with the Fuchs family holding over 60%
The group now covers the full space value chain, with missions for institutional and commercial customers in Earth observation, navigation, telecommunications, science and defense. It was recently admitted to the SDAX following a capital increase, and the Fuchs family retains more than 60 percent of the share capital.
Fuchs chaired the supervisory board until 2018 and left it in 2024
Fuchs moved from the management board to the supervisory board in 2002 and chaired it until 2018. She remained a member until 2024, when she resigned her mandate.
OHB CEO Marco Fuchs, her son, credited her with laying the groundwork for Germany to have its own space systems house. Former ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain said OHB supplies nearly all satellite types needed for European security and attributed that to Fuchs.