Aeronautics

Guiding concepts

The Electric Aircraft
The demand for air transport is on the rise. At the same time, there is an ever-increasing call from society at large to significantly reduce the impact of air transport on the environment and climate.
The Commercial Aircraft
Passenger numbers for global air travel have been rising steadily for many years. The number of passenger kilometres flown worldwide doubles every 15 years.
The Urban Air Mobility
Whether in urban or sparsely populated areas, new and highly automated types of aircraft are set to play an ever-increasing role in global passenger and cargo transport over the coming decades.
The Rescue Helicopter 2030
Future rescue helicopters are expected to be able to reach their destination quickly, safely, quietly and flexibly – around the clock, regardless of weather conditions and over long distances.
The Efficient Air Transport
The EU's vision for air transport, Flightpath 2050, sets out clear requirements. In future, 90 percent of all passenger journeys within Europe should take no more than four hours door to door.
The Virtual Product
At present, the development, testing and production of new aircraft designs is associated with such considerable timing and financial risks that a mere setback could threaten the existence of entire companies.

International networks

National and International Networking

DLR aeronautics research is networked at national, European and global levels. Together with government representatives as well as partners from industry and research, and involving extensive cooperation with trade associations and interest groups, DLR is working to help shape the air transport system of the future. It plays a leading role in many areas of aeronautics research, both nationally and internationally.

Research aircraft fleet

In action worldwide – flying for research

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) operates the largest civilian fleet of research aircraft and helicopters in Europe. These highly-modified aircraft are either themselves the subject of aeronautics research or are used to observe the Earth, the ocean surfaces and the atmosphere. The aircraft are stationed at DLR’s sites in Braunschweig and Oberpfaffenhofen. This facility provides scientific services for DLR flight experiments as well as for other national and international institutions, public authorities and industrial customers.

Dossier

The electrification of aviation
Electric flight opens up a new dimension in aviation and offers unprecedented opportunities for sustainable mobility in the future. DLR is one of the pioneers in the field of electric flight. It combines fundamental and application-oriented research in this field in a way that is unique in Europe.

News / Aeronautics

Infrastructure

Large-scale research facilities
The portfolio at DLR currently comprises some 180 large-scale research facilities at 15 locations, including the polar regions. DLR also makes its large-scale facilities available to partners from industry and academia as part of its cooperative research activities.

Jobs / Aeronautics

Scientific activities / projects

Conception and Implementation of new Digital Assistance and Automation Systems for Environment Friendly Management of Air Traffic

Institute of Flight Guidance, Braunschweig

Publication

Institutes and Facilities

Low Cost Monitor

Facts / Aeronautics

166,50,56,22

294

Aeronautics – Revenues 2019 (Data in million euro)
166,50,56,22

166

Fixed-wing aircraft research – Revenues 2019 (Data in million euro)
166,50,56,22

50

Propulsion systems – Revenues 2019 (Data in million euro)
166,50,56,22

56

Air Traffic Management and Flight Experiments – Revenues 2019 (Data in million euro)
166,50,56,22

22

Rotary-wing aircraft research – Revenues 2019 (Data in million euro)

Global air traffic

Aero­nau­tics Re­search at DLR

The Elec­tric Air­craft

The Com­mer­cial Air­craft

The Ur­ban Air Mo­bil­i­ty

The Res­cue He­li­copter 2030

The Ef­fi­cient Air Trans­port

The Vir­tu­al Prod­uct

Na­tion­al and In­ter­na­tion­al Net­work­ing

In ac­tion world­wide – fly­ing for re­search

The elec­tri­fi­ca­tion of avi­a­tion

Ice clouds warm­ing the Arc­tic

Test­ing main­te­nance and ground pro­cess­es for fu­ture air­craft gen­er­a­tions

DLR con­ducts vi­bra­tion tests on IS­TAR

Fly­ing in for­ma­tion to re­duce cli­mate im­pact

Cur­rent air trans­port cli­mate tar­gets in­suf­fi­cient for trend re­ver­sal

Search­ing for sources of noise on air­craft wings

Sig­nif­i­cant­ly low­er cli­mate im­pact of con­trails when us­ing sus­tain­able fu­els

Re­duc­tion in air trans­port emis­sions re­quires in­ten­si­fied ef­forts

Co­op­er­a­tion with Cana­di­an re­search in­sti­tu­tion strength­ened

Down to the last de­tail – air­craft de­vel­op­ment goes dig­i­tal

DL­R­magazine 167 – The sky is the lim­it

DLR de­vel­ops an un­manned strato­spher­ic air­craft

The re­turn of su­per­son­ic air­craft must be sus­tain­able

South At­lantic Anoma­ly does not cause ad­di­tion­al ra­di­a­tion ex­po­sure at flight al­ti­tudes

Re­al-life lab­o­ra­to­ry for re­search in­to and test­ing of un­manned aeri­al sys­tems

Ra­di­a­tion re­searchers fly non-stop to the Falk­land Is­lands

DLR/NASA De­sign Chal­lenge seeks ideas for hy­dro­gen-pow­ered air­craft

Avi­a­tion lead­ers launch first in-flight 100 per­cent sus­tain­able-fu­el emis­sions study on a com­mer­cial pas­sen­ger jet

Cus­tomis­ing in­di­vid­u­al flight routes for more cli­mate-friend­ly out­comes

Large-scale re­search fa­cil­i­ties

Con­cep­tion and Im­ple­men­ta­tion of new Dig­i­tal As­sis­tance and Au­toma­tion Sys­tems for En­vi­ron­ment Friend­ly Man­age­ment of Air Traf­fic

EREA – The fu­ture of avi­a­tion

White Pa­per: Ze­ro Emis­sion Avi­a­tion – Ger­man Avi­a­tion Re­search

Brochure: Demon­stra­tor Roadmap to­wards Ze­ro Emis­sion Avi­a­tion

In­sti­tute of Aeroe­las­tic­i­ty

In­sti­tute of Flight Sys­tems

In­sti­tute of Flight Guid­ance

In­sti­tute of Propul­sion Tech­nol­o­gy

In­sti­tute of Struc­tures and De­sign

Flight Ex­per­i­ments fa­cil­i­ty

In­sti­tute of Com­pos­ite Struc­tures and Adap­tive Sys­tems

In­sti­tute of Aero­dy­nam­ics and Flow Tech­nol­o­gy

In­sti­tute of Air Trans­port and Air­port Re­search

In­sti­tute of Main­te­nance, Re­pair and Over­haul

In­sti­tute of Air Trans­porta­tion Sys­tems

In­sti­tute of At­mo­spher­ic Physics

In­sti­tute of Soft­ware Meth­ods for Prod­uct Vir­tu­al­iza­tion

In­sti­tute of Sys­tem Ar­chi­tec­tures in Aero­nau­tics

In­sti­tute of Sys­tem Dy­nam­ics and Con­trol

In­sti­tute of Tech­ni­cal Physics

In­sti­tute of Test and Sim­u­la­tion for Gas Tur­bines

In­sti­tute of Com­bus­tion Tech­nol­o­gy

In­sti­tute of Ma­te­ri­als Re­search

Low-cost air­lines see widespread growth and a slight rise in prices in sum­mer 2018

Record num­ber of flights and mod­er­ate price ris­es fol­low­ing Air Berlin in­sol­ven­cy

Rapid ex­pan­sion of low-cost air­lines

DLR study on low cost air­lines: record sup­ply, ris­ing com­pe­ti­tion and falling prices

Trend check for low-cost air­lines – the long-haul busi­ness is tak­ing off

Aero­nau­tics – Rev­enues 2019 (Da­ta in mil­lion eu­ro)

Main menu

Chair of the DLR Ex­ec­u­tive Board is hon­oured with the Wom­en in Aerospace Eu­rope Out­stand­ing Achieve­ment Award 2020

8th In­dus­tri­al Days at the DLR site in Lam­pold­shausen

Pas­cale Ehren­fre­und takes of­fice as Pres­i­dent of the IAF

Space – ac­ces­si­bil­i­ty, diplo­ma­cy and co­op­er­a­tion

The DLR del­e­ga­tion dur­ing a vis­it to the JAXA Tsuku­ba Space Cen­tre on 31 Ju­ly 2019

Meck­len­burg-West­ern Pomera­nia and DLR wel­come Eu­ro­pean pol­i­cy-mak­ers to Brus­sels

Dust storms swirl at Mars' north pole

Aeronautics Research at DLR

The Electric Aircraft

The Commercial Aircraft

The Urban Air Mobility

The Rescue Helicopter 2030

The Efficient Air Transport

The Virtual Product

National and International Networking

In action worldwide – flying for research

The electrification of aviation

Ice clouds warming the Arctic

Testing maintenance and ground processes for future aircraft generations

DLR conducts vibration tests on ISTAR

Flying in formation to reduce climate impact

Current air transport climate targets insufficient for trend reversal

Searching for sources of noise on aircraft wings

Significantly lower climate impact of contrails when using sustainable fuels

Reduction in air transport emissions requires intensified efforts

Cooperation with Canadian research institution strengthened

Down to the last detail – aircraft development goes digital

DLRmagazine 167 – The sky is the limit

DLR develops an unmanned stratospheric aircraft

The return of supersonic aircraft must be sustainable

South Atlantic Anomaly does not cause additional radiation exposure at flight altitudes

Real-life laboratory for research into and testing of unmanned aerial systems

Radiation researchers fly non-stop to the Falkland Islands

DLR/NASA Design Challenge seeks ideas for hydrogen-powered aircraft

Aviation leaders launch first in-flight 100 percent sustainable-fuel emissions study on a commercial passenger jet

Customising individual flight routes for more climate-friendly outcomes

Large-scale research facilities

Conception and Implementation of new Digital Assistance and Automation Systems for Environment Friendly Management of Air Traffic

EREA – The future of aviation

White Paper: Zero Emission Aviation – German Aviation Research

Brochure: Demonstrator Roadmap towards Zero Emission Aviation

Institute of Aeroelasticity

Institute of Flight Systems

Institute of Flight Guidance

Institute of Propulsion Technology

Institute of Structures and Design

Flight Experiments facility

Institute of Composite Structures and Adaptive Systems

Institute of Aerodynamics and Flow Technology

Institute of Air Transport and Airport Research

Institute of Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul

Institute of Air Transportation Systems

Institute of Atmospheric Physics

Institute of Software Methods for Product Virtualization

Institute of System Architectures in Aeronautics

Institute of System Dynamics and Control

Institute of Technical Physics

Institute of Test and Simulation for Gas Turbines

Institute of Combustion Technology

Institute of Materials Research

Low-cost airlines see widespread growth and a slight rise in prices in summer 2018

Record number of flights and moderate price rises following Air Berlin insolvency

Rapid expansion of low-cost airlines

DLR study on low cost airlines: record supply, rising competition and falling prices

Trend check for low-cost airlines – the long-haul business is taking off

Aeronautics – Revenues 2019 (Data in million euro)

Chair of the DLR Executive Board is honoured with the Women in Aerospace Europe Outstanding Achievement Award 2020

8th Industrial Days at the DLR site in Lampoldshausen

Pascale Ehrenfreund takes office as President of the IAF

Space – accessibility, diplomacy and cooperation

The DLR delegation during a visit to the JAXA Tsukuba Space Centre on 31 July 2019

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and DLR welcome European policy-makers to Brussels