Europe's voice to the space station
In a complex of buildings in the Bavarian countryside, a team of flight controllers works 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, speaking directly to the International Space Station (ISS). This is the Columbus Control Centre (Col-CC), located at the German Aerospace Center's (DLR) Oberpfaffenhofen site. Since 2008, this facility has been the operational heart of the European Columbus laboratory, a 4.5-meter diameter science module permanently attached to the ISS. When astronauts on the station use the radio callsign "Munich," this is the room that answers.
The flight control team at Oberpfaffenhofen manages all systems on the Columbus module. They are responsible for everything from life support and power distribution to the cooling systems for the scientific payloads. The center coordinates the multitude of European experiments conducted inside the laboratory, which spans research in fluid physics, material science, and human physiology. Data from these experiments flows through Oberpfaffenhofen to User Support and Operations Centres across Europe. The control center is in constant contact with international partners, including NASA's mission control in Houston and Roscosmos in Moscow, making it a node in the ISS's global ground network.
Robots for orbit
The Oberpfaffenhofen site is also a center for robotics and mechatronics, developing technologies for on-orbit servicing (OOS). Scientists here design and test robotic systems intended to perform complex tasks in space, such as maintaining, repairing, and assembling satellites. One of the main facilities is the On-Orbit Servicing Simulator (OOS-SIM), which uses two large industrial robots to simulate the zero-gravity dynamics of two satellites interacting in space.
On this simulator, engineers test sensitive lightweight robot arms and specialized grippers. The goal is to perfect the autonomous capture of a tumbling, non-cooperative satellite. This capability for future missions that refuel aging satellites or remove hazardous space debris. The robotic arms and control strategies developed here are designed with extreme dexterity and often incorporate haptic feedback, allowing a ground operator to "feel" what the robot is touching hundreds of kilometers away. Projects like DEOS (German Orbital Servicing Mission) have started this technology, which aims to extend the life of valuable space assets and ensure the long-term sustainability of orbital environments.
Charting Earth and space
Beyond human spaceflight and robotics, the German Space Operations Center (GSOC) at Oberpfaffenhofen commands a fleet of robotic Earth observation satellites. Among these are the twin radar satellites TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X. Launched in 2007 and 2010 respectively, they fly in close formation, just a few hundred meters apart. This configuration allows them to act as a single-pass radar interferometer. Together, they have generated a global 3D digital elevation model of Earth's entire land surface with a vertical accuracy of better than two meters.
The site also hosts one of the two Galileo Control Centres, which manages Europe's global satellite navigation system. This facility is responsible for controlling the Galileo satellites, maintaining the constellation, and ensuring the precise timing and positioning signals that are broadcast to users worldwide.