Researchers at the University of Stuttgart provide insights into aerospace research

Researchers at the University of Stuttgart are preparing satellites for low Earth orbit. On May 17, 2024, scientists and doctoral students will present research projects from the new ATLAS Collaborative Research Center to an audience of aerospace enthusiasts. The objectives are clear: to avoid space debris, extend the operational lifespan of satellites, and explore new satellite applications.

The atmospheric conditions in low Earth orbit have received little attention in research endeavors, leaving a notable gap in the development of methods and technologies for their effective control. Researchers at the new Collaborative Research Center (CRC) ATLAS (Advancing Technologies of Very Low Altitude Satellites) at the Universität Stuttgart want to understand and control these conditions in order to be able to send satellites into low altitude orbit.

Satellites in low earth orbit - around 200 to 450 kilometers above the Earth's surface - can provide data in higher resolution and with a shorter time delay. This would be extremely beneficial for communication services and climate research. The satellites can also be smaller, lighter and are thus less expensive to put into orbit. In order to avoid space debris, the researchers want to increase the service life of the satellites from the current six months to several years and slow them down so that they burn up completely.

Space enthusiasts can see for themselves how this can be achieved. The researchers of the CRC cordially invite you to the ATLAS launch event on Friday, May 17, 2024, at the Baden-Württemberg Space Center at Pfaffenwaldring 29 on Campus Vaihingen.

Start: 10:30 a.m.

• Welcome by Professor Wolfram Ressel, Rector at the University of Stuttgart
• Greetings from partners from research, industry, and society.
• Presentation of ATLAS by CRC spokesperson Professor Stefanos Fasoulas, Institute of Space Systems (IRS)
• Poster session with researchers and doctoral researchers

Registration
Please register by Wednesday May 15, at 12 p.m. using the online submission form.

The Collaborative Research Center 1667 "Advancing Technologies of Very Low Altitude Satellites" (ATLAS) will initially receive funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG) for four years. The interdisciplinary research projects are scheduled to run for a total of twelve years. Under the leadership of the University of Stuttgart, the CRC comprises 23 sub-project leaders from 13 institutes belonging to 5 faculties of the University of Stuttgart and the Institute of Technical Physics at the German Aerospace Center (DLR-TP).