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

Emission-free flight
The objective has now been set in Germany and Europe, with the aim of achieving climate neutrality in the economy and society. This is how it is worded in the EU's 'Green Deal'. The consequences of climate change also compel us to strive towards climate-neutral air transport, as this sector is responsible for 3.5 percent of global warming.

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

Methods for condition monitoring and fault prognostics of mechatronic aircraft systems

Institute of Flight Systems, Braunschweig

Publication

Institutes and Facilities

Low Cost Monitor

Facts / Aeronautics

181,58,57,20

316

Aeronautics – Revenues 2020 (Data in million euro)
181,58,57,20

181

Fixed-wing aircraft research – Revenues 2020 (Data in million euro)
181,58,57,20

58

Propulsion systems – Revenues 2020 (Data in million euro)
181,58,57,20

57

Air Traffic Management and Flight Experiments – Revenues 2020 (Data in million euro)
181,58,57,20

20

Rotary-wing aircraft research – Revenues 2020 (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

Emis­sion-free flight

First in-flight 100 per­cent sus­tain­able-fu­els emis­sions study of pas­sen­ger jet shows ear­ly promise

DLR takes de­liv­ery of its new 'Do 288' re­search air­craft D-CEFD

Hy­brid-elec­tric propul­sion sys­tems en­able more cli­mate-friend­ly air trans­port

Fac­ing air trans­port chal­lenges to­geth­er

Shar­ing ex­per­tise in the vir­tu­al AI re­search cen­tre

Pre­vent­ing con­trails with the right flight al­ti­tude

Tech­nolo­gies and con­cepts for the satel­lite nav­i­ga­tion sys­tems of the fu­ture

DLR and ADAC Luftret­tung present a new con­cept for res­cue mo­bil­i­ty in live demon­stra­tion

DLR at the ITS World Congress 2021

Fu­el cells for air trans­port – ground-break­ing cer­e­mo­ny for the BALIS test field in Empfin­gen

DLR is de­vel­op­ing a Launch Co­or­di­na­tion Cen­ter

The HyZe­ro hy­dro­gen air­craft wins the NASA/DLR De­sign Chal­lenge

On the trail of methane sources in Scan­di­navia

World cli­mate re­port – cli­mate change in­ten­si­fies weath­er and cli­mate ex­tremes

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

Large-scale re­search fa­cil­i­ties

Meth­ods for con­di­tion mon­i­tor­ing and fault prog­nos­tics of mecha­tron­ic air­craft sys­tems

EREA – The fu­ture of avi­a­tion

White Pa­per: Ze­ro Emis­sion Avi­a­tion – Ger­man Avi­a­tion Re­search

Brochure: Demon­stra­tor Roadmap to­wards Ze­ro Emis­sion Avi­a­tion (2020)

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 2020 (Da­ta in mil­lion eu­ro)

Main menu

DLR re­news co­op­er­a­tion with in­ter­na­tion­al part­ners

DLR, JAXA and CSA ex­tend their co­op­er­a­tion to in­clude hu­man re­sources man­age­ment

Co­op­er­a­tion with Cana­di­an re­search in­sti­tu­tion strength­ened

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

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

Emission-free flight

First in-flight 100 percent sustainable-fuels emissions study of passenger jet shows early promise

DLR takes delivery of its new 'Do 288' research aircraft D-CEFD

Hybrid-electric propulsion systems enable more climate-friendly air transport

Facing air transport challenges together

Sharing expertise in the virtual AI research centre

Preventing contrails with the right flight altitude

Technologies and concepts for the satellite navigation systems of the future

DLR and ADAC Luftrettung present a new concept for rescue mobility in live demonstration

Fuel cells for air transport – ground-breaking ceremony for the BALIS test field in Empfingen

DLR is developing a Launch Coordination Center

The HyZero hydrogen aircraft wins the NASA/DLR Design Challenge

On the trail of methane sources in Scandinavia

World climate report – climate change intensifies weather and climate extremes

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

Large-scale research facilities

Methods for condition monitoring and fault prognostics of mechatronic aircraft systems

EREA – The future of aviation

White Paper: Zero Emission Aviation – German Aviation Research

Brochure: Demonstrator Roadmap towards Zero Emission Aviation (2020)

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 2020 (Data in million euro)

DLR renews cooperation with international partners

DLR, JAXA and CSA extend their cooperation to include human resources management

Cooperation with Canadian research institution strengthened

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