Reflex Aerospace

Ditch the Cubesat!

Reflex Aerospace designs and manufactures tailored LEO satellites in the range of 75 kg – 500 kg that provide the volume, power, and performance to host even the most demanding payloads.

Our Service for Space-Newcomers
We assist clients who do not have prior experience with own space assets. Reflex offers guidance throughout the entire process, including:
- Satellite concept development and mission planning
- Payload adaption support
- Orbital deployment and mission operations.

Get in contact to learn more!

Senior Business Development Manager & Lead EO Programs

Responsible for complex end-to-end sales, from 
- prospecting, over 
- qualifying the lead, 
- guiding the lead through the complex process of satellite procurement, incl. 
- support in scouting for funding, to
- closing the deal successfully.

Business Development Manager & Lead EO Programs

As the 1st employee, I was responsible of juggling dozens of non-technical balls to get the company up and running in very close cooperation with the founder & CEO of the company. 

Highlights:
- Operationally responsible for scaling the team from 1 to 20 employees 
- 360° market understanding to find the niche that would serve as the cradle for Reflex’ growth
- Leading project manager of a consortium of 14 companies and institutes for the study that served as the baseline for Europe's SatCom constellation IRIS^2 (shorturl.at/ryDFS) 
- Creating that certain hype to put Reflex prominently on the map 
- Inventing the >> NextSpace Broadcast << concept 
- 10^9 tons of other stuff

Swiss Army Knife

The Golden Records

I actively support the positive development of the space sector through consulting and in-depth analysis; my focus is on Earth observation and remote sensing.
Fields of expertise are:
- Market trends and developments
- Business development and go-to-market strategy
- Technology evaluation and roadmap planning

Bonus:
If you are a young start up, I am happy to assist on a pro bono basis. Ping me!

Consultant for Investors and Start-Ups

constellr

As a Co-founder of the New Space start-up ConstellR, I successfully achieved inter alia a seven digit BMWi (Ministry of Economics) grant and laid the foundation for the first funding with private equity. My convincing presentations of the company originated from my previous in-validation of our first market and product idea. Based on thorough market analyses, I was able to detect a discrepancy between our technology, planned customer base and expected revenue. Having acquired this recognition, I provoked a pivot in the targeted primary market that ended in an entirely new use case for our data product. Subsequently, I validated the updated use case together with my colleagues based on client feedback and input from academia. The target market is now successfully determined, awarded inter alia by ESA.

Realizing that our product needed a thorough education campaign to provide information about the benefits for our customers and their users, I developed ConstellR’s LinkedIn appearance at basically no costs as a first step. The authentic combination of entertaining and informative posts quickly generated a large follower base that comprises now more than 1000 individuals. Additionally, I created customized info and communication material that explained the features and benefits of our products in a clear and comprehensible manner. 

Furthermore, I laid the cornerstone for a product that is based entirely on already existing third party satellite infrastructure and one of ConsterllR’s software patents. It allows to bridge the large gap until the first own satellite infrastructure is in orbit and beneficially enables ConstellR to gain very early market traction and bind customers to its service.

Co-Founder

Deutsches Zentrum für Luft-und Raumfahrt e.V.

Development of the Focal Plane Unit on behalf of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI)

As a reliable and focused, yet enthusiastic project manager, Christian proved to be the right choice for the Kompsat-7 FPU development project. He earned the admiration and respect of both subordinates and superiors alike for successfully leading more than twenty engineers from different disciplines and departments. Christian navigated the entire crew through this ambitious development project by subdividing it into sections, each with a reasonable number of persons. This allowed him to gather and provide the necessary information as well as to steer each part of the project with focus on details, yet with the full picture in sight. With this he demonstrated strong communication and interpersonal skills that enabled him to assertively make decisions and solve problems.
With a clear vision of customer satisfaction in mind, he successfully built bridges between customer requirements and project constraints. His positive attitude, reliability to keep deadlines and yet being flexible as well as his creativity in solving technical and contractual challenges satisfied internal and external stakeholders alike.

Project Manager: Kompsat-7 & EOIR (Korean Military Spy Satellite)

Radiometric verification of the Sentinel-4 Focal Plane Subsystem on behalf of Airbus DS / ESA

Key Accomplishments: 
As a result of effective re-negotiations, Christian successfully enhanced the project's budget to 163% and streamlined the work scope to an efficient 79%, all whilst diligently adhering to the originally prescribed timeline.

In the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, Christian took on the challenge of transitioning the entire Flight-Model-1 test campaign. He achieved this for all teams from ESA, Airbus DS, and DLR, leading them to remote work arrangements. Besides, he efficiently managed the test environment with a skeleton crew, with only a minimum of two personnel on-site at the test facility, compared to the regular team of 23. Throughout this period, he met all the strict schedules, demonstrating his strong leadership and management skills.

Project Manager: Sentinel-4

Development of a hyperspectral instrument for the ISS on behalf of DLR and TBE:

Besides his duties as optical engineer Christian voluntarily took over the responsibility for the planning of the AIT process of the DESIS instrument. At this point in time his experience in the topic was still limited. However, due to his open and communicative skills as well as his ability to acquire technical aspects quickly, he effectively organised the implementation in a concise and comprehensive way that ultimately proved to be the foundation for the successful execution of the AIT planning for the instrument.

AIT Manager and Optical Engineer: DESIS

Satellite-based study of the earth's gravitational field on behalf of NASA and DLR:
- Design and implementation of test setup
- Assistance with the test campaign

Optical Engineer: GRACE follow on (FO)

Development of an Autonomous Refocusing Mechanism for HiRes Spaceborne Cameras

Master's Thesis

國立中央大學

Non linear photonics for communication applications.

Research Project

Ernst-Abbe-Hochschule Jena

Nano-optical coating technologies for flexible lenses.

Research Assistant

Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems

Micelle-based anti-reflective nano-optical coating technologies.

Bachelor´s thesis

Max-Planck Institut for Economics

Student Assistant

Shizuoka University

Experimental X-High-Res optical microscopy

Photographer

Christian has been working in multiple fields of the space industry for over a decade, always keeping an eye on our planet. 

In his current role at Reflex Aerospace, he is leading the company's Earth observation programs. Christian is driving the development of the most advanced EO satellite platform from a commercial point of view. With a focus on groundbreaking pointing accuracy, stability, and agility, his goal is to enable global EO satellite operators to deliver unparalleled data quality to satisfy the needs of their customers.

Since 2018, Christian has been driving business development, and revenue & profit growth for NewSpace companies. As a founder and key figure in multiple start-ups (e.g. constellr, Reflex Aerospace), Christian plays a crucial role in translating the companies' visions and strategies into tangible market success.

He started his career at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) as an optical engineer and quickly transitioned into AIT management and ultimately into  project management. He successfully steered international EO flagship projects (Sentinel 4, Kompsat 7).

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