DLR is Germany's national research center for aeronautics and space. Its extensive research and development work is integrated into national and international cooperative ventures. As Germany's Space Agency, DLR has been given responsibility for the forward planning and the implementation of the German space program by the German federal government as well as for the international representation of German interests.

Approximately 5,100 people are employed in DLR's 31 institutes and facilities at eight locations in Germany: Koeln-Porz (headquarters), Berlin-Adlershof, Bonn-Oberkassel, Braunschweig, Goettingen, Lampoldshausen, Oberpfaffenhofen and Stuttgart. DLR also operates offices in Brussels, Paris and Washington D.C.

At DLR's Institute for Communications and Navigation, new systems for radio communication and radio navigation are conceived and developed. The application environments are aeronautical and terrestrial, both for broadcasting and for point to point usage. The research in communications addresses satellite constellation design, propagation modeling, signal modulation and coding, as well as radio resource allocation. New communication services for airplanes and trains have been developed and are being demonstrated. Recent experiments using optical links provide previously unseen data rates and efficiencies to airborne platforms and satellites. Finally, new communications systems are being developed for replacing the old-fashioned communication in air-traffic management by a modern design.

Galileo is currently receiving substantial attention in Europe. The understanding and handling of major impairments to the accuracy and reliability of satellite navigation are key working areas of DLR. This includes in particular the ionospheric delay and scintillation, as well as multipath propagation. Measurements of multipath delay with the highest resolution were performed at DLR. In the area of applications, the focus is on reliability for safety of life services, comprehensible accuracy for precise positioning, as well as availability for indoor service. DLR is also strongly engaged in the validation and verification of Galileo.

http://www.dlr.de