A proving ground for pioneers
Researchers and developers at the Adlershof Technology Park are still making history in the aviation and aerospace sector
Theion CTO Martin Schaupp and his team are developing a novel battery based on the element sulphur. © WISTA Management GmbH
Developing sensors for space missions: FBH researchers Sonja Nozinic (left) and Heike Christopher © WISTA Management GmbH
Exciting new addition: cosine’s senior scientist Boris Landgraf presents HyperScout, a miniature hyperspectral cameras built for observations in space © WISTA Management GmbH
The aviation pioneer Melli Beese died a century ago. In the very place that she once helped shape, researchers and developers are still making history in the aviation and aerospace sector—with excellent technologies that are pushing the industry forward.
She was the first German woman to fly a powered aircraft and faced formidable resistance. Yet she passed the private pilot’s licence exam in Johannisthal: Melli Beese. She was also an aircraft designer and founded her own flying school. Johannisthal and Adlershof are places where aviation and aerospace history continues to be written—through innovative ideas that push the limits of what is technically possible.
One example is the company Theion. Developing a novel battery, the start-up could play a decisive role in advancing the electrification of aviation. Led by CTO Martin Schaupp, a development team is working on the next generation of crystalline sulphur batteries. The key innovation: Instead of relying on painstakingly extracted nickel, manganese and cobalt, as in lithium-ion batteries, Theion’s cells use sulphur. The element is not only available virtually without limits; it also makes energy storage systems far more environmentally friendly to produce. Additionally, the fact that they only weigh about a third of conventional batteries facilitates greater range.
“Our goal is to offer a battery with one third of the weight, cost and CO₂ footprint of conventional lithium-ion batteries,” says Schaupp with emphasis. Sulphur costs around 20 cents per kilogram, compared with roughly 20 euros for the typical mix of nickel, manganese and graphite. Unlike other companies working on sulphur batteries, Theion makes sulphur usable in a different form: crystalline. “Our technology requires a novel production process, which we have filed for patent protection,” says Schaupp.
An important advantage lies in its high capacity. The gravimetric energy density—crucial for aviation and aerospace—is three times higher than that of comparable state-of-the-art batteries. In practical terms, as Schaupp puts it: “You can fly three times longer with the same weight. Especially for aviation and aerospace, which depend on lightweight, high-performance batteries, this technology offers decisive technical advantages—and so this is the market we are addressing first.” Not least because of the battery’s excellent charging and, above all, discharging performance, as well as its high level of safety, ensured by the patented anode and the inherently safe sulphur cathode. Schaupp: “By optimising the crystalline structure of our battery, we enable particularly efficient and long-lasting energy uptake and release.”
The Theion crystal battery could become a game changer for electromobility—on land, on water, and in the air. Initially, the batteries will be deployed in transport drones and a satellite. It will likely take longer, however, before they power small, manned aircraft.
“The shift towards small satellites such as CubeSats and low-cost space missions calls for equally compact sensors,” says Heike Christopher from Ferdinand-Braun-Institut, Leibniz-Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik (FBH). Together with Sonja Nozinic, she is working on the miniLiDAR project. “In collaboration with industrial partners and other research institutes, we will contribute to drastically miniaturising, simplifying, and reducing the cost of a highly precise proximity sensor that has been used for supply missions to the International Space Station (ISS) for 20 years,” Nozinic emphasises. It is a key technology in spaceflight.
At the heart of the system is a new semiconductor-based laser source developed at FBH. It builds on an advanced nanosecond pulsed laser originally designed for the automotive industry. “The laser chip was engineered to deliver exceptionally high power and a stable wavelength despite its minimal size,” Christopher explains. This is made possible by a novel multi-zone laser concept and integrated surface gratings that generate narrowband emission, allowing interference—such as sunlight—to be filtered out. Christopher: “Improved beam quality ensures that the sensor can detect objects with high precision.”
The laser driver electronics were also redesigned. “They generate extremely short, high-power pulses, which are required for distance measurement using time-of-flight,” according to Nozinic. A compact metal base also enables laser testing prior to final integration, saving costs and increasing reliability.
The result is a highly compact proximity sensor that does far more than support ISS manoeuvres. It paves the way for future in-orbit services such as satellite maintenance and assembly, as well as the capture of space debris. At the same time, the technology is robust and affordable enough to open up new applications on Earth—in autonomous vehicles, robotics and medical technology. Moreover, the laser and driver technologies developed here form the basis for ultrashort laser pulses, which will be required for quantum sensing in the future.
Other researchers are looking even further into space. What exactly happens when matter, energy, or light edge closer towards a black hole? Astrophysicists are trying to coax secrets from these celestial objects of extreme mass and gravity—so dense that not even light can escape them. They are supported by technologies developed by the Dutch company cosine. “We develop and manufacture innovative measurement systems that are used primarily in space research, but also in industry,” says Boris Landgraf, senior scientist & business developer at cosine. The company recently opened new office and laboratory facilities in Adlershof, at the Centre for Photovoltaics and Renewable Energies (ZPV), where new X-ray optics laboratories and expanded testing capacities are now being established.
One of the company’s key areas of work is compact, high-performance instruments for satellite missions. Cosine is a global leader in so-called Silicon Pore Optics (SPO)—ultralight, highly precise X-ray optics. “They make it possible to bring large mirror surfaces with very low weight into space, enabling high-resolution observations of X-ray sources such as black holes or neutron stars,” Landgraf explains. The technology will be indispensable for future missions of the European Space Agency ESA, such as NewAthena (Advanced Telescope for High Energy Astrophysics). US and Japanese space agencies are also among the company’s clients.
This is not least due to another fascinating system developed by cosine called HyperScout. This is a family of miniaturised hyperspectral cameras capable of analysing image data directly in orbit. Thanks to integrated AI, the instruments extract relevant information—such as the surface properties of an asteroid—and transmit only the most important data back to Earth. “The technology is being used in the ESA mission Hera, among others. The aim is to determine what asteroids are made of, so that—if one were ever on a collision course with Earth—it could be deflected by the targeted impact of a spacecraft,” Landgraf explains. Said with a mere hint of exaggeration: Adlershof will be saving the world.
Chris Löwer for Adlershof Journal