SOFIA Data Center (SDC)

The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) was a joint project between NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and DLR (Deutschen Zentrums für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V.). On the German side, the German SOFIA Institute (DSI) at the Institute of Space Systems (IRS) at the University of Stuttgart was responsible for operations and implementation. During twelve years of operation, primarily from Palmdale, California, and various locations in the southern hemisphere, astronomical data in the infrared and far-infrared wavelength range was recorded over approximately 5,300 observation hours using various specialized scientific instruments. To date, only a portion of this data has been published in 570 refereed publications (as of 11/2025).

The SOFIA Data Center (SDC) project aims to process the astronomical data obtained with SOFIA using state-of-the-art methods and make it available to the astronomical community in Germany and abroad for further research in a public archive that complies with Virtual Observatory standards. This is all the more important given that no other observatories capable of providing new data in the far-infrared wavelength range will be available in the next ten to 20 years. An overview of SOFIA's most important scientific results can be found here.
In addition, a large amount of data and documents documenting the telescope, its technology, and the operation of the observatory are made available in an operational and technical archive.
The SDC project is funded by the German Space Agency at DLR (German Aerospace Center) under grant number 50OK2404.