LARGE SPACE STRUCTURES GMBH

Their core work

Large Space Structures GmbH is a specialist engineering SME based in Garching bei München — Germany's aerospace corridor, home to DLR and major space primes — focused on the design and development of large deployable mechanical structures for space applications. Their core product domain is large-aperture antenna systems for satellites and space platforms, as demonstrated by their leading role in the LEA project, which aimed to produce the first European deployable antenna exceeding 5 meters in diameter. They also contribute to space communication systems more broadly, including the RF and radio technology layer that makes large space antennas operationally useful. As an industrial partner in EU research consortia, LSS bridges between academic antenna research and the engineering realities of space-qualified hardware production.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Both H2020 projects were entered in 2017 and ran through 2021, so the available data covers a single simultaneous cohort rather than a longitudinal evolution — no early-to-late keyword shift is detectable. What is visible is a dual-track positioning from the outset: one project grounded in advanced structural hardware (LEA, large antennas) and one in communications systems research with an industrial training dimension (REVOLVE). Whether this breadth persisted, narrowed, or expanded after 2021 cannot be determined from the H2020 record alone.

LSS appears to be positioning at the intersection of large deployable antennas and next-generation satellite broadband — a commercially hot area driven by LEO constellation growth — making them a plausible partner for future antenna, VSAT, or in-orbit assembly programmes.

How they like to work

LSS has participated exclusively as a consortium member, never as coordinator, across both H2020 projects — a pattern consistent with a specialist industrial SME that contributes defined technical work packages rather than managing large consortia. Despite being a small company, they reached 23 unique partners across 8 countries from just 2 projects, suggesting they join well-connected, multi-partner consortia rather than tight bilateral partnerships. This profile indicates they are comfortable as a trusted technical contributor in larger collaboration structures.

LSS has built a network of 23 unique partners across 8 countries from only two projects — an unusually broad reach for an SME with such limited project history, reflecting participation in mid-to-large European consortia. Their geographic footprint likely spans the core ESA member states given the space sector context.

What sets them apart

LSS occupies a rare niche as a private SME specialising in large deployable antenna structures — a segment typically dominated by large primes such as Airbus DS or Thales Alenia Space. Being based in Garching places them within direct reach of DLR, the ESA ESAC network, and the Munich aerospace supplier ecosystem, which gives them access to test infrastructure and consortium relationships that most SMEs of their size cannot replicate. For a consortium needing credible industrial depth on antenna deployment or large space structure engineering without the overhead of a prime contractor, LSS offers a focused, agile alternative.

Highlights from their portfolio

• LEA
  The largest single funding award for LSS (€956,250) and arguably Europe's most ambitious deployable antenna project of the H2020 era, targeting a diameter threshold — over 5 metres — that no European manufacturer had previously achieved.
• REVOLVE
  An MSCA European Industrial Doctorate project, confirming LSS's role not just as a hardware supplier but as a recognised industrial training environment for the next generation of space communications engineers.