Faces of Ariane 6: Siljan Schröder, Head of Production, Bremen 04-30-2021 |  3 minutes

Siljan Schröder oversees production at the ArianeGroup Bremen site in Germany, where we build the Ariane 5 and Ariane 6 upper stages, and the European Service Models for the Orion lunar lander program. A space enthusiast who has always worked in the aeronautics industry, Siljan came to ArianeGroup to seek new horizons.

I am in charge of putting together teams and making sure that all frameworks are ready to build the upper stage in the best possible conditions. It is all about team management and prioritization between projects, how to boost motivation and stay on track with specific goals. I am fortunate to work with very committed people. I have to say, it’s the team that does it, not the manager!

Delivering a finished product always gives us a sense of pride. This was the first time that we delivered a complete stage for Ariane 6. Not an easy endeavor! I’m so happy after such an intensive, hectic period. I’m glad that the team can take a moment to celebrate our achievement, before getting started on the next project! Also the next Ariane 6 upper stages will challenge us and teamwork is very important.

Apart from Ariane 6, of course, Orion and the NASA Artemis program. I am really looking forward to the launch of the first Artemis mission. It is incredible to be responsible for a very important and critical part of a spacecraft that will take astronauts to the Moon. Every time I go into the cleanroom, I realize that the parts we are building will actually go to the Moon. It’s a giant leap for ArianeGroup and for Europe.

This interview is part of our Faces of Ariane 6 series. Sign up to our newsletter to receive notification of upcoming publications. All the interviews are available on our LinkedIn page.