Model Rocketry in Germany (Factsheet)

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Overall situation

Model rocketry in Germany is available, but far less developed than in comparable Western European and North American countries. Due to the lack of nationwide rocketry organizations, commercial manufacturers and dealers and strict laws model rocketry made no real progress over the last couple of years.

However, Germany could be an attractive place for rocketry in the future if some infrastructure issues could be solved. Germany, as a country, is one of the most attractive places for any business worldwide with high income and perfect infrastructure data. The hobby industry is very strong in this country, there are lots of hobby shops around and model aviation (not rocketry) is very well known here.

Rocketry business development

First attempts to sell commercial rocketry products in Germany started in the 60´s when the first German motor was produced. Since it was basically made for rocket-powered gliders, this engine had a very long burning time. It is still available but was only slightly modificated so this type has still a burning time of 5 sec. and no ejection charge which is considered to be too long for most applications.

Since this engine was, for a long time, the only one being available in Germany, rocketry development was limited. In the 70´s, Estes products and engines were imported for the first time. Due to the small market and high freight and customs fees, prices were at a high level. Products were mostly available via mail order and shops usually did not carry model rocketry products. Dozens of small as well as large known companies (such as Mattel or Robbe) made attempts to import products in bigger quantities. Since it was not possible to built up a market so quick they failed and no constant business development took place.

Organizations in Germany

There are some local clubs in different German cities and regions devoted to model rocketry, high power and semi-professional/amateur rocketry and other projects. However, different to the United States or other countries, there is still no nationwide model rocketry organization. Some call themselves nationwide, but in reality they are just local clubs. As a matter of fact, no German organisation ever was near to become a nationwide rocketry body. Vice versa, some of this small clubs even tried to prevent attempts to develop such ideas by destructive activites.

This makes it difficult to coordinate local clubs and promotion activities. Some model aviation clubs have small groups of rocketeers interested in competition flying. However, since they are basically focused on competition flying only, they cannot be considered as a nationwide model rocketry body, too. So, for decades, there is no real movement.

German laws

Due to the lack of a powerful nationwide organization, Germany still has a very strict national laws. Free purchase of engines is restricted to 20 g of pyrotechnical mass (around C-size) and is combined with an age limit of 18 years. Some sale restrictions apply as well such as special storage limitations. So it is not possible, for example, to sell standard engines to the large core market of 12-15 year old students as in the States, makes it uneconomical for the hobby industry to sell such products. Due to this limitations, shops often refuses to carry rocketry products. For engine sizes D and above or clustered and multi-staging models, the situation is even more worse. Special permissions are necessary to import, sell, buy and fly those engines. It is unclear if German authorities can continue to set up such strict laws since other countries within the European Community introduced more liberal laws over the past years.