New DLR ISTAR research aircraft arrives in Braunschweig

On 31 January 2020, the new DLR ISTAR (In-flight Systems and Technology Airborne Research) aircraft – a modified Falcon 2000LX – flew from the Dassault plant in Bordeaux-Mérignac to its new home at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) in Braunschweig. The arrival of ISTAR in Braunschweig marks the completion of the first phase of its conversion at Dassault, during which the original aircraft was prepared for the installation of extensive instrumentation in accordance with DLR specifications. Commissioning will now commence at the DLR site in Braunschweig with the integration of a basic measurement system and initial flights. By the mid-2020s, ISTAR will be fully operational as an in-flight simulator, having undergone many additional and extensive modifications. ISTAR will then be used for the evaluation of increasingly automated flight operations, pilot assistance systems and unmanned flight. Two further conversion phases have been planned in close cooperation with Dassault. Read more…