A real-time satellite data centre at the Neustrelitz site of the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) provides crucial real-time information for rescue services and other users of satellite-based products.
- 29 August 2014
The Real Time Space Application Center gives us scientific-technical opportunities for data acquisition and data processing of new missions to provide necessary satellite based information products in near real-time and real-time for various governmental, scientific and commercial users.
The new building on the DLR-site in Neustrelitz hosts new facilities for processing data provided by the receiving antennae. Since its opening in September 2013, the real-time data centre has enabled rescue services to monitor natural catastrophes in order to determine where help is most urgent. It has also been used for the observation of maritime conditions and ice levels, supporting for example the rescue of the research vessel “Academic Shokalskiy” in January 2014.
Preparing for the future
With its new rooms and modernised IT infrastructure, the data centre significantly improves working conditions for scientists. At the same time, the technological possibilities have been increased. Researchers are now able to prepare for ever more ambitious and challenging future national and international satellite projects.
Approximately one third of the investment for the new 2 000 m2 building, around EUR 3.4 million, came from the European Regional Development Fund. The German federal government contributed the remaining EUR 6.3 million. Out of these, EUR 2.5 million were used for the so-called Green IT Concept, which uses the excess warmth of the DLR servers and additional solar units to provide energy-saving cooling for the IT equipment.
Research and development in space science
The German Aerospace Centre (DLR) is the German national centre in aerospace matters. The site in Neustrelitz has been part of the DLR since 1992 and hosts departments of the German Remote Sensing Data Center and the Institute for Communication and Navigation. Other focus areas of the scientists’ work are the European Programmes COPERNICUS and GALILEO. About 70 people are employed at the DLR site in Neustrelitz.
The Project saves existing high-qualified jobs on the site and creates opportunities for new projects, for example a project on satellite-based maritime safety and security which helps protect the ocean and enhances the safety of navigation, and projects on the topic of ionospheric monitoring. By now, three new jobs for scientists have been created and more are planned.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “Expansion in Neustrelitz and construction of a real-time data centre” is EUR 9 650 254 with the EU’s European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) contributing EUR 3 440 000 through the “Mecklenburg-Vorpommern” Operational Programme for the 2007-2013 programming period.