E Q U I P E I N S P A C E
Born in Torgau, in the Free State of Saxony, Richter moved to Hanover as a young man to begin his career in the senior civil service of Lower Saxony's state police force. Thanks to his numerous established connections abroad, Richter decided to start his own business in the 1990s, embarking on a new career in Dubai. For some 15 years, he served as a liaison between the German business community and companies throughout the Middle East region. In most cases, he worked in close cooperation with the German Chamber of Commerce Abroad (AHK), the German Embassy and ministries. In 2013, Richter relocated his family to Shanghai and established SYMTAQ, a consultancy for international relations, politics and business. His successful cooperation with Chinese clients in the construction of the Jin Mao Tower Shanghai provided the groundwork for this move. As Senior Vice President of SYMTAQ, he subsequently broadened its field of operations to include the aerospace industry. He stewarded PEGASUS Air Service and the new Relax Airlines among others. At the Hannover Messe (Hanover Fair) 2008, his involvement with the ESA Technology Transfer project sparked his enthusiasm for the space industry. He also supported Prof. Ulf Merbold and Prof. Ernst Messerschmid, two German astronauts, during this stint. Since this time, Joachim Richter has taken charge of expanding EQUIPE IN SPACE's network and support in the Middle East and Asia.
Born in Achangaran/Uzbekistan with German roots, Friedrich Lehmann moved to Mainz in 1987. From 2001 to 2007, he lived in Switzerland where he studied business psychology in Lucerne. After earning his PhD he launched a career as an independent entrepreneur. Up to 2010, Lehmann worked as a trainer for business communication with multinational banks and insurance companies among his clients. In 2011, he founded the Lehmann Management Group, assisting notable Russian, Ukrainian, and German companies with bilateral trade transactions in the technical equipment, large-scale industry, and defense sectors. The construction of the International Space Station (ISS) inspired Lehmann's enthusiasm for space flight. For several years now, Dr. Lehmann has been in charge of EQUIPE IN SPACE's communications with Russian partners and space agencies. He also spearheads networking efforts with other international space industry partners in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and in the Central and Eastern European regions.
Aha was born in the financial metropolis of Frankfurt and belongs to the youngest generation of witnesses to the NASA moon landings. The gripping "Apollo moment" compelled him, as soon as he was of age, to join various space organizations. This is also where he got to personally know Prof. Hermann Oberth, one of the pioneers of modern space flight. Aha studied design and philosophy in Frankfurt and Darmstadt. By 1990, he was working in Silicon Valley, where he founded a special agency for space marketing, thus filling a fundamental gap in the value-added chain of the space industry. In 2005, he conceived the first integrated marketing concept for the commercialization of the European ISS Columbus module and developed various technology transfer platforms. In 2011, jointly with the European Astronaut Center (EAC), Aha presented the world's first astronaut aptitude test that anyone can sit and complete in as little as 30 minutes. In the past 20 years, he has been involved in numerous other collaborations with space agencies; he has also worked on book projects, events and campaigns.
Ivo Ortwein is a trained journalist with 30 years of experience and membership in the German Journalists' Association DJV. For many years, he was the author of topical technical articles on radio and TV, as well as a speaker and presenter for the state broadcaster ZDF, HR and SWR. Furthermore, due to his good network in politics and business, Ortwein has been interested in the further development of innovative technologies in the fields of IT, digitalisation and space travel. As an architect, Ortwein developed two multi-thematic IT ecosystems for top universities and for the financial sector. He is currently cooperating with the founding members of Gaia-X, who are helping to expand digital offerings in Germany and the European Union. The focus is on data protection and data sovereignty, as well as the monetisation of this data. The cooperation also involves the political state and federal levels.