• On December 25, 2021 at 9:20 a.m. local time (1:20 p.m. CET), the James Webb Space Telescope, the largest space telescope of all time to date, took off from the spaceport of the European Space Agency on an Ariane 5 launcher.
• A total of four instruments are housed on James Webb.  Two of them come from Europe and have German shares.
• The German Space Agency at DLR coordinates the German contributions for ESA and for an instrument in the national space program.

KOUROU, French Guiana (DLR PR) — James Webb Space Telescope – JWST for short – was launched from the European spaceport in Kourou (French Guiana) on its journey to Lagrange Point 2, 1.5 million kilometers away.  James Webb is the largest and most expensive space telescope of all time, which has now started its long journey into the depths of space with an Ariane 5 upper stage ‘Made in Germany’. In addition, MIRI (Mid Infrared Iinstrument) and Near Infrared ( Near Infrared Spectrograph) – two of the four instruments on board – German parts: The near-infrared instrument NIRSpec was built by Airbus in Ottobrunn and Friedrichshafen. With this instrument, scientists from all over the world want to analyze the ‘hours of birth’ of the universe. NIRSpec is primarily intended to detect the radiation from the first galaxies that formed shortly after the Big Bang. 

PARIS (ESA PR) — The next SpaceX resupply vehicle is packed with European science, ready for delivery to the International Space Station just in time for Christmas.

The Dragon spacecraft was launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, at 11:06 CET (10:06 GMT) Tuesday 21 December. We take a quick peek at some of the European cargo it carries.

• Payloads selected for Spectrum’s maiden flight scheduled for end of 2022
• Five institutions from Germany, Norway and Slovenia with a total of seven small satellites to launch on the first test flight of Isar Aerospace’s launch vehicle “Spectrum”
• For the first time in Europe, the German government entrusts a privately financed European space company with the launch of institutional payloads

MUNICH, 13 December 2021 (Isar Aerospace PR) – Isar Aerospace, the leading and most well-funded private European launch service provider focusing on small and medium satellites, and the German Space Agency at DLR have announced the selection of the institutional payloads for the maiden flight of the “Spectrum” rocket planned for the end of 2022 as part of the microlauncher competition. Among the winners of the Announcement of Opportunity are five institutions from Germany, Norway, and Slovenia with a total of seven small satellites that will be used to demonstrate various technologies in space such as communication or weather data measurement.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (NASA PR) — The 24^thSpaceX cargo resupply services mission, targeted to launch in late December from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carries scientific research and technology demonstrations to the International Space Station. The experiments aboard include studies of bioprinting, crystallization of monoclonal antibodies, changes in immune function, plant gene expression changes, laundering clothes in space, processing alloys, and student citizen science projects.

PARIS (ESA PR) — Small and medium satellites can expect new launch opportunities on the Spectrum launch vehicle thanks to an ESA Boost! co-funding contract worth €11 million [US $12.39 million] with Isar Aerospace Technologies in Germany.

The flight demonstrations of Spectrum will pave the way for an extended availability of European launch service solutions for small satellites, delivering dedicated launch opportunities.

• The 37th parabolic flight campaign of the German Space Agency at DLR took place from July 14 to 24, 2021 from Paderborn airport.
• Five Braunschweig experiments on unfolding in weightlessness were on board.

PADERBORN, Germany (DLR PR) — From sun sails and photovoltaic modules to deployable space wings that have gleaned their functionalities from ear peckers and dragonflies – the experiments of the DLR Institute for Composite Structures and Adaptronics that were carried out at the 37th parabolic flight campaign of the space agency in the German Aerospace Center (DLR) were on board, were all about “development”.

• The sixth INNOspace Masters conference took place virtually on July 29, 2021 under the motto “Innovations for sustainable infrastructures in space and on earth”.
• A total of 330 companies, start-ups, universities and research institutions from 23 European countries took part in the competition.
• The winners include quantum processors for satellite communications, solutions for precision agriculture and a small satellite for the disposal of space debris.

COLOGNE, Germany (DLR PR) — At the sixth INNOspace Masters Competition, the German Space Agency looked for innovative solutions at DLR to ensure the unrestricted and reliable availability of satellite-based infrastructures in the digital age. A total of 330 participants from companies, start-ups, universities and research institutions in 23 European countries took part in the competition under the motto “Innovations for sustainable infrastructures in space and on earth.” There were five competition categories from different development and innovation phases to choose from. The winners have now been announced at the INNOspace Masters conference, which took place virtually on July 29, 2021. Initiatives like the INNOspace Masters are important because innovations mainly arise from competition.

• The German Space Agency in the German Aerospace Center (DLR) is committed to promoting start-ups within the framework of the European space organization ESA.
• On July 5, 2021, the German space start-up was awarded the contract to build and operate an innovative test satellite for broadband internet in very low Earth orbit.
• The test satellite “LoLaSat” (Low Latency Communication Satellite) is intended, among other things, to significantly shorten the transit times of the signals and pave the way for Internet via satellite, also for virtual reality or augmented reality and certain applications in autonomous driving.

COLOGNE (DLR PR) — Young, innovative companies are playing an increasingly important role in space travel – also in Germany. 

• The 36th parabolic flight campaign of the German Space Agency at DLR took place from June 4th to 11th, 2021 from Paderborn airport.
• In addition to eight experiments from the fields of human physiology, technology and physics, technology tests are carried out for the International Space Station (ISS) mission.
• Topics include health care during space missions and gender-sensitive medicine.

PADERBORN, Germany (DLR PR) — At the 36th Parabolic flight campaign of the German Space Agency at DLR, which took place from June 4 to 11, 2021 from Paderborn airport, various technology tests for the “Cosmic Kiss” mission of the German ESA astronaut Matthias Mauer were carried out in advance in weightlessness.  These include “Retinal Diagnostics” for eye health for astronauts and “Thermo-Mini” for measuring human body temperature during space missions. Matthias Maurer will take off for the International Space Station ISS in autumn 2021.