The DLR site in Augsburg conducts research in various disciplines across various institutes and sites. The facility was opened in May 2011, has approximately 50 employees and is located in the research triangle formed by the University of Augsburg, Technology Centre Augsburg and Augsburg Innovations Park.
The DLR institute established at Berlin-Adlershof was founded in 1992 and is involved in all major European missions of planetary research venturing out into our Solar System.
DLR in Bonn is the headquarters of the DLR Space Administration. It is responsible for managing national space activities on behalf of the federal government. Furthermore, several offices of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) are located here.
The main activities of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) joint sites of Braunschweig and Göttingen are aviation and transportation research. Located at the Research Airport in Braunschweig, DLR continues the tradition of the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DFL), founded in 1936, and employs there about 1000 highly-qualified scientists and engineers.
The Bremen site of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) has been the home of the Institute of Space Systems since 2007.The institute’s work includes analysing and evaluating complex spaceflight systems for their technological, economical and socio-political viability. It develops concepts for innovative space missions with high visibility at national and international level. Scientific, commercial and safety-related applications supported by spaceflight are developed and converted into collaborative projects with research and industry.
The main activities of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) sites Göttingen and Braunschweig are aviation and traffic engineering. DLR Göttingen employs more than 400 experts in the foundation- and application-oriented field of aviation research.
The German Aerospace Center (DLR) and its predecessors have been represented in Hamburg since the 1950s. Situated close to Hamburg's other aerospace industry, the Aviation and Space Psychology Department of the Institute for Aerospace Medicine is one of the leading skills centres for the selection of personnel in the aerospace industry. DLR's Institute of Air Transportation Systems has also been based here in Hamburg since 2007.
In 2017, DLR founded the Institute of Data Science in Jena to transform 'Big Data' – complex, unstructured datasets – into 'Smart Data', from which conclusions can be drawn and recommendations for action derived.
The DLR site in Jülich is located about 60 kilometres west of Cologne and, since mid-2011, has been home to a working group of the Institute for Solar Research. On 1 July 2011, DLR acquired the Solar Thermal Test and Demonstration Power Plant Jülich (STJ) from Stadtwerke Jülich GmbH (Jülich Public Utility Company).
DLR has its headquaters in Cologne. The site is located next to Cologne-Bonn airport. Approximately 1,500 employees work in the institutes and facilities and in the central administration.
The DLR site at Lampoldshausen, which employs some 230 staff, was founded in 1959 by space pioneer Professor Eugen Sänger to act as a test site for liquid rocket engines. The site went into operation in 1962.
The Neustrelitz site of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) is approximately 100km north of Berlin in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and is the workplace of about 60 scientists, engineers and clerical staff. The R&D work carried out on-site covers themes such as surveillance of the earth by satellite, and navigation; a profile which aligns the site with others in the GMES and GALILEO European research programmes.
Together with the site at Koeln, the DLR site at Oberpfaffenhofen is one of Germany's largest research centres. Located near the A96 motorway between Munich and Lindau, the site is home to eight scientific institues and currently employs approximately 1500 people. The research centre's main fields of activity include paricipating in space missions, climate research, research and development in the field of Earth observation, developing navigation systems and advanced robotics development.
The German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Stuttgart consists of six research institutes conducting research into the areas of aeronautics, space, energy, transport and security. It currently employs more than 600 people. Today's DLR site goes back to the Research Institute of Jet Propulsion Physics, which was founded at the Stuttgart Airport in 1954.
The Trauen site of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) is situated on Lüneburg Heath, close to the German military airport at Fassberg. This handy location, far from any settlements of note and yet close to many major conurbations, has been in use since 1935 for cutting-edge research. The work and experiments of Prof. Eugen Sänger, who oversaw the construction of the rocket-engine development centre in Trauen and developed breathtaking engines for rockets and guided missiles, aroused particular interest. One of his ground-breaking innovations is still used today in almost all rocket engines: jet cooling by propellant.
The ground station established in 1968 at Weilheim by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) is the communications link between Earth and satellites in orbit. With its help, it is possible to create a communications link with a satellite when it flies over that allows data to pass either way.