Germany – Planning and Execution of Research and Development – BECCAL System Infrastructure

The DLR is the research center of the Federal Republic of Germany for aerospace. It conducts research and development in the fields of aviation, space, energy and transport, security, and digitalization. BECCAL aims to enable various experiments aboard the International Space Station (ISS) with ultracold and condensed atoms for fundamental research and the development of future quantum sensors. The ISS provides a unique environment with permanent weightlessness, allowing for extended free-fall and observation times, the use of additional trapping configurations for capturing and cooling atoms, and repeatability for statistical analyses. BECCAL is based on QUANTUS and MAIUS, a series of DLR-funded projects for atom-optical experiments in weightlessness in the drop tower as well as on high-altitude research rockets, and benefits from the experiences of the Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL), which was developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and installed on the ISS in 2018. Furthermore, the technological and scientific approaches developed in BECCAL are applied in missions such as STE-QUEST, a test of the universality of free fall with atom interferometers. Additionally, these approaches also drive developments in satellite-based quantum sensing for applications in navigation and Earth observation. BECCAL is being realized at the Institute for Satellite Geodesy and Inertial Sensing and the Institute for Quantum Technologies, supported by the DLR Space Management. Furthermore, the Humboldt University of Berlin, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Ferdinand Braun Institute for High-Frequency Technology, Leibniz University Hannover, University of Bremen, University of Ulm, and OHB System AG are involved. The contract is awarded without competition according to § 14 Abs. 4 Nr. 2 b) VgV, as only the University of Bremen can complete the flight hardware and ground systems for the BECCAL project. This involves extensions or the continuation of the work packages from BECCAL III. The infrastructure components and vacuum system components must be integrated.