Dealing with fluctuations in solar energy is one of the biggest challenges on the way to a sustainable energy supply. Researchers at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) are working on a technology that will hopefully make it possible to operate energy networks with a high proportion of solar energy in a more stable and efficient manner.
How can ever-larger volumes of scientific data be processed and evaluated? And how can Earth observation data be meaningfully combined with ground measurements, thereby opening up new sources of information? In the cross-sectoral Big Data Platform project, researchers from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) are devising new methods for the future-oriented field of Big Data Science. The interdisciplinary research project involves 21 DLR institutes from the research fields of spaceflight, aeronautics, transport, energy, digitalisation and security – all working together. The project is set to run for four years and has received more than 21 million euro of funding.
The German ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst has been on the International Space Station (ISS) for over a month, and he has been conducting experiments that scientists have sent into space for him. This week, his activities included putting on two small tracking devices, which allow researchers from the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) to track his movements.
From 19 June 2018, the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) is presenting current highlights from the field of automation and robotics at 'automatica 2018'. The focus is on the 'Factory of the Future', with research work and projects for intelligent, autonomous and collaborative production using lightweight robots.
Eighteen months after achieving their previous record, researchers at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) - this time together with ADVA, a leading provider of open networking solutions - set a new record for data transmission using free-space laser communications - 13.16 terabits per second. At this data rate, the content of all printed the books in the world could be transmitted in approximately 30 seconds. The IP traffic in Germany in 2020, which is expected to grow to 144 petabytes per day, could also be supported. However, the actual goal is to provide broadband Internet via satellite to rural areas that are not connected to the terrestrial network infrastructure. For that purpose, according to the BATS study, an aggregate data rate of three to four terabits per second would be required to serve all of Europe.
In future, robot assistants will be able to support people at home or in care facilities if the tasks associated with everyday life become too much of a burden. Researchers at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) working on the SMiLE project have developed technologies that provide efficient daily assistance to people requiring care or with special needs.
On 25 April 2018, at the Berlin Air Show ILA 2018, DLR and Dassault signed the purchase contract for a Falcon 2000 LX twinjet in the presence of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The agreement involves the delivery of the aircraft and its conversion into the flight test vehicle iSTAR (in-flight Systems and Technology Airborne Research) by 2020.
The German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) will present its latest projects and research results at the ILA Berlin Air Show from 25 to 29 April 2018. Again one of the largest institutional exhibitors in 2018, DLR will provide fascinating insights into its current research on an approximately 700-square-metre stand in Hall 4, in the Space Pavilion, on the stand of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) in Hall 2, and at the ILA CareerCenter in Hall 1.
The German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) will present its latest research projects on the topic of high-performance fibre-reinforced polymers from 6 to 8 March 2018 at JEC World in Paris – the leading European composites trade fair.
The German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) is unique within Germany and in Europe with regard to its work and research areas – as a national research centre and Space Administration as well as a Project Management Agency.