German Aerospace Center

Institute of Space Research

The Institute of Optical Sensor Systems fosusses on research and development of active and passive optical sensor systems operating in the UV, visible, infrared and THz spectral range.

Welcome to the Institute of Space Research

On May 1rst 2025, the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, DLR) established the Institute of Space Research in Berlin. The new institute emerged from the internationally renowned DLR Institutes of Optical Sensor Systems and Planetary Research. The new institute combines the expertise in the fields of space instruments and space research and sets up a leading center of excellence for optical sensor systems and their application in planetary research, Earth observation and security.

News

Expertise pooled in new DLR Institute of Space Research
May 5, 2025

Expertise pooled in new DLR Institute of Space Research

Space is a key technology for the future, essential for exploring planets, Earth observation and security. Satellites and space probes equipped with highly specialised observation instruments are indispensable for all of these missions.

Lucy spacecraft to fly by asteroid Donaldjohanson this Easter
April 16, 2025

Lucy spacecraft to fly by asteroid Donaldjohanson this Easter

+++ Update: NASA's Lucy spacecraft has flown past asteroid (52246) Donaldjohanson at a distance of 960 kilometres, sending back its first razor-sharp images to Earth.

New images of the Acheron Fossae graben system on Mars
April 9, 2025

New images of the Acheron Fossae graben system on Mars

The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) has captured new images of the Acheron Fossae region on Mars. A characteristic horst-and-graben structure was formed in this region over 3.7 billion years ago. HRSC is a camera experiment developed and operated by DLR.

Hera asteroid mission – close flyby of Mars and its moon Deimos
March 13, 2025

Hera asteroid mission – close flyby of Mars and its moon Deimos

On 12 March 2025, the European Space Agency (ESA) Hera space probe conducted a flyby of Mars. This event marks a significant milestone on Hera's journey to the Didymos asteroid system.

Perfect Moon landing in Mare Crisium
March 3, 2025

Perfect Moon landing in Mare Crisium

With a fully automated, picture-perfect landing, the Blue Ghost mission touched down on the morning of 2 March 2025 Central European Time (CET) in Mare Crisium, on the northeast of the Moon's near side.

Mars's northern ice cap is young with a cold, stiff mantle beneath
February 26, 2025

Mars's northern ice cap is young with a cold, stiff mantle beneath

To understand the properties of the rocky mantle beneath Earth's continents, researchers use a little geophysical trick: they measure how fast large areas of land, once covered by kilometres of ice during the last ice age around 20,000 years ago, continue to rise today.

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High Impact Publications

Find here a compilation of our publications in journals with a high impact factor.

Space blog

People make science happen. The DLR Blogs portal features the researchers at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) themselves – highly qualified experts who are passionate about their work. The blogs provide a glimpse 'behind the scenes' of their everyday scientific lives. They show how multifaceted DLR's research is.

Departments

Department Extrasolar Planets and Atmospheres

Our expertise is the detection and precise characterisation of extrasolar planets and in the modelling of planetary atmospheres, with a focus on the conditions that make planets habitable.

Department High-Speed Electronics

The department High-Speed Electronics comprises the Institute’s expertise in the development of focal plane units and detector electronics for VIS/NIR satellite cameras.

Department In-Situ Sensing

The department In-Situ Sensing researches and develops methods for in-situ measurements on planetary bodies such as Mars, the Moon and asteroids.

Department Planetary Geodesy

Department Planetary Geodesy studies fundamental properties of planets as global shape, topography, gravity field, rotation, and orbital motion are, moons, asteroids, and comets.

Department Planetary Geology

The key activities of the department Planetary Geophysics are the theoretical modeling of structure and evolution of planetary bodies…

Department Planetary Laboratories

complementary range of laboratory setups.

Department Planetary Physics

The goal of the department Planetary Gophysics is to gain a comprehensive understanding of the internal structure and thermochemical evolution of planetary bodies.

Department Planetary Sensor Systems

Department Planetary Sensor Systems is an engineering group specialized in the design and development of instruments for scientific planetary exploration missions.

Department Real-Time Data Processing

The department Real-Time Data Processing focusses on the development and evaluation of models, algorithms and data processing chains for optical sensors.

Department Security Research and Applications

The department Security Research and Application combines the Institute's activities in the field of civil security and defense.

Department Space Instruments

The department Space Instruments focusses mainly on the instrument development for ESA and NASA missions.

Department Terahertz and Laser Spectroscopy

The department of Terahertz and Laser Spectroscopy has a long track record in instrumentation development for and application of laser-based spectroscopic techniques..

Careers and education

Vacancies at the Institute of Space Research

Vacancies at the Institute of Optical Sensor Systems can be found here: DLR - Jobs & Career - Job offers.

Information for students

We offer students, doctoral candidates and interns the opportunity to work together with experienced scientists and engineers in an exciting and diverse environment.