Largest faculty for aerospace engineering in Europe
Around 1,800 guests attended the 59th Stallwächterparty at the Baden-Württemberg Landesvertretung in Berlin. The state presented itself as "THE aerospace LÄND", this time with a focus on aerospace engineering. Europe's largest aerospace faculty was not to be missed: The University of Stuttgart presented satellite projects, student rockets, perovskite solar cells for space travel and the collaborative research center "Advancing Technologies of Very Low Altitude Satellites ATLAS".
Baden-Württemberg's Minister President Winfried Kretschmann, Stuttgart's Lord Mayor Dr. Frank Nopper and the Federal Government's Coordinator for Aerospace, Anna Christmann, were introduced to the ATLAS Collaborative Research Center by Prof. Sabine Klinkner, Professor of Satellite Technology, and Prof. Claas Olthoff, Professor of Astronautics and Exploration. The center researches technologies for space missions at very low altitudes—an underexplored area in orbit that is difficult to predict but offers significant potential for enhancing scientific and commercial satellite missions and making them future-ready.
Prof. Michael Saliba, Head of the Institute for Photovoltaics (IPV), presented another forward-looking research project. Perovskite solar cells are to be used in space to power on-board systems during a space mission.
Outstanding student activities
The students also brought outstanding projects with them to Berlin. The KSat student group for small satellite research, for example, constructs small satellites and launches them into space. They are operated and monitored from the control room on Campus Vaihingen. KSat also regularly conducts experiments on the ground and in space - including last year on the International Space Station (ISS), where the focus is primarily on testing ferrofluid systems. The university group Flight Hardware presented experiments at the Stallwächterparty.
The student university group Hybrid Engine Development (HyEnD) is working on the construction of hybrid rockets. Last year, it not only set the European altitude record for student and amateur rockets but also achieved the world altitude record for student rockets with hybrid propulsion. With the 7.8 meter long N2ORTH rocket, which was on display at the Stallwächterparty, the team reached an altitude of 64 kilometers.
