The institute uses sounding rockets for probing the middle atmosphere from 50 - 150 km with sub-orbital flights. Because the density of air is either too low or too high there, these altitudes are neither accessible by aircraft and balloon, nor by satellite.
Successful launch of the instrument ROMARA from Andøya/Norway in 2018. The measurements of natural ions are part of the research on polar, mesospheric winter radar echos (PMWE). (Photo: DLR, CC BY 3.0)