Planetary Research

The Institute of Space Research participates in almost all programs of the European Space Agency ESA planetary science missions, is a key partner in exoplanet research missions, and contributes instruments and data processing expertise to missions of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency JAXA and the French space agency CNES.

Planets and Moons

BepiColombo Science

After its successful launch in October 2018 from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, ESA's BepiColombomission is currently on its nominal 7-year journey to the planet closest to the Sun.

BepiColombo Mission - MERTIS Instrument

MERTIS (MErcury Radiometer and Thermal Infrared Spectrometer) is a scientific instrument for ESA's BepiColombo deep-space mission. BepiColombo was launched to Mercury in 2018 and has been observing the planet since 2023. The instrument was developed and built by the DLR Institute of Optical Sensor Systems.

EnVision - Science

EnVision is an ESA Venus orbiter mission that will determine the nature and current state of Venus’ geological evolution and its relationship with the atmosphere, to understand how and why Venus and Earth evolved so differently.

EnVision Mission - VenSpec-M

The Venus Mapping Spectrometer (VenSpec-M) is part of a spectrometer suite of ESA's EnVision mission, which will be launched in 2031. VenSpec-M was developed to focus on mapping the surface of Venus in the spectral range around 1 micrometer. The OS Institute is responsible for the design, manufacture, assembly and verification of the instrument.

JUICE

In 2012 ESA selected the JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) as the first L-class mission within the Cosmic Vision Programme. This mission will first explore Jupiter, its magnetosphere and satellites in orbit around Jupiter before going finally into orbit around Ganymede, the largest satellite in the solar system.

Mars 2020 and ExoMars

NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover landed in Jezero Crater on 18 February 2021. Rosalind Franklin, previously known as ExoMars 2022, was scheduled to launch in 2022.

Mars Express

Mars Express was the first ‘flexible’ mission of ESA’s long-term science exploration programme. The spacecraft was launched on 2 June 2003 and arrived on 25 December 2003 with successful orbit insertion.

MMX Mission - Science

To be launched in September 2024 and inserted into Martian orbit in 2025, the Martian Moons eXploration mission (MMX) is a JAXA mission to Phobos and Deimos investigating the origin of the two Martian moons. While surface spectra indicate an origin from captured asteroids, the moons’ orbits favour formation scenarios involving the ejecta from a major impact early in Martian history.

MMX Mission - RAX Instrument

Raman Spectrometer for MMX (RAX) is a scientific instrument for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) robotic spacecraft Martian Moons eXploration (MMX), which will be launched in 2024. The DLR Institute of Optical Sensor Systems (OS) is leading both the scientific team and the development of the instrument.

VERITAS Mission - Science

Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy (VERITAS) is a NASA Discovery mission under the leadership of JPL. 

VERITAS Mission - VEM Instrument

VEM is one of the two core scientific instruments of VERITAS, a NASA mission to observe Venus. The development of VEM is being led by two DLR institutes in Berlin, the Institute of Optical Sensor Systems and the Institute of Planetary Researc.

Exoplanets

CHEOPS Mission - Science

CHEOPS (CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite) – ESA’s first S-class mission – is a relatively small space telescope (32 cm diameter) dedicated to the detailed characterisation of extrasolar planets orbiting in known planetary systems. It provides the unique capability of determining accurate radii for a subset of planets for which the mass has already been measured from ground-based spectroscopic observations.

CHEOPS Mission - FPM Instrument

The CHEOPS space telescope has been observing extrasolar planets since 2020. CHEOPS examines several hundred bright stars around which planets have already been discovered - but now with a high-precision photometry that was not possible before. CHEOPS stands for CHaracterizing ExOPlanet Satellite and is a project of the European Space Agency ESA.

PLATO Mission - Science

PLATO (PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars) is a space telescope and ESA’s M3 mission of the Cosmic Vision Programme. It will search for transiting extrasolar planets, down to the size of the Earth, orbiting solar-like stars with orbital periods up to one year.

PLATO Mission - Engineering

PLATO (PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars) is a mission within the ESA's Cosmic Vision program. Its aim is to find and study a large number of extrasolar planetary systems, focusing on the properties of terrestrial planets in the habitable zone around sun-like stars.

Small Bodies

Comet Interceptor

Comet Interceptor is the first mission selected in ESA’s F-class programme. The mission’s primary science goal is to characterise, for the first time, a dynamically new (long-periodic) comet or interstellar object, including its surface composition, shape, and structure, and the composition of its gas coma and plasma environment.

Hayabusa2/Hayabusa2#

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Hayabusa2 asteroid sample return mission was launched to the km-sized C-class asteroid (162173) Ryugu on 3 December 2014 and arrived on 27 June 2018.

Hera

Hera is the European component of the Asteroid Impact Deflection Assessment project (AIDA), a joint effort between ESA and NASA. The project intends to demonstrate the feasibility of modifying the orbit of an asteroid with a kinetic impactor.

Lucy

Lucy is a NASA Discovery mission successfully launched on 16 October 2021. The mission will explore for the first time the regions of the Jupiter L4 and L5 libration points, home of the Jupiter Trojan population. Trojans are trapped in these regions by a 1:1 orbital resonance with Jupiter, and therefore represent a population that is dynamically stable and isolated from other small body populations.

Psyche

Psyche is a NASA discovery mission to the metallic asteroid (16) Psyche. The launch was delayed by NASA until October 2023. Arrival at the main belt asteroid is now planned for 2029.

Experiments on the ISS

BioSigN

The main objectives of BioSigN (BioSignatures and habitable Niches) are to support future planetary exploration missions to Mars, Enceladus, Europa or Titan by a set of science experiments to be performed on the ISS.

Finished Missions

InSight

NASA’s Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) mission to Mars was launched on 5 May 2018 and landed in ‘Homestead Hollow’ in the Elysium region on 26 November 2018. InSight is the first geophysical observatory on Mars.

Rosetta

The Rosetta mission, launched in March 2004, was one of the most ambitious endeavours of European spaceflight. It carried 11 instruments and the Philae landing module with 10 experiments.

Dawn

NASA's Dawn mission was launched on 27 September 2007. It was designed to study two large bodies in the asteroid belt in order to address questions about the formation of the Solar System.