The Space Research Institute (Institut für Weltraumforschung, IWF) focuses on the physics of our solar system and the diversity of exoplanets. With about 100 staff members from 20 nations it is one of the largest institutes of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, OeAW). The institute is located in the Victor Franz Hess Research Center of the OeAW in the south of Graz. At the Lustbühel Observatory it operates a satellite laser ranging station, which is one of the best in the world.
The IWF is the only institute in Austria that develops and builds space-qualified instruments on a large scale. The data returned by them are scientifically analysed and physically interpreted at the institute. IWF's core engineering expertise is in building magnetometers and on-board computers, as well as in laser ranging to satellites and space debris. In terms of science, the IWF concentrates on dynamic processes in space plasma physics and on the upper atmospheres of planets and exoplanets - i.e. planets outside our solar system.
40+ Space Missions
Space has been explored with the help of satellites for more than 60 years and still poses many puzzles. Since the beginning of the 1980s, the IWF has contributed/is contributing to more than 40 international space missions with over 100 scientific instruments. The institute is currently involved in 24 projects led by the European Space Agency (ESA), NASA or national space agencies in Japan, Russia, China, and South Korea. The missions cover fleets of satellites in near-Earth space, the observation of the Sun, and the exploration of planets such as Mercury, Jupiter, and extrasolar planets. From building the instruments to analyzing their data, these projects last 10-30 years. While the IWF has already "harvested" the data from past missions and the scientists are eagerly analyzing the data from the current missions, in the laboratory the sophisticated sensors and instruments for future missions are being developed.
Our driving force
The motivation for our research and technology development is humanity's place in the universe. Three interdisciplinary challenges are the driving force behind this:
- The unexpectedly large diversity of the discovered extrasolar planets and their planetary systems.
- The uniqueness of Earth and the solar system and their finetuning to life as we know it.
- Humanity's responsibility for planet Earth and space.
IWF Graz. Leading Austria into space. Since 1971.
The film '50 Years IWF Graz' by director Günter Schilhan tells the story of the Graz Space Research Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in 7.5 minutes. It takes us into the vastness of space, opens the doors to the institute's laboratories, shows the people who work here and summarises how the IWF has contributed to Austria's development into an internationally recognised and important space country over the past five decades.
Fascinating. Commander Spock, Starship Enterprise