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| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | SRON |
| Formed | 1983; 43 years ago (1983) |
| Type | Space agency |
| Headquarters | Leiden |
| Administrator | Michael Wise (Scientific Director) |
| Employees | 250 |
| Website | https://www.sron.nl/ |
Space Research Organisation Netherlands (SRON) is theDutch national institute forspace research. It focuses onastrophysics,Earth observation, andexoplanetary research. SRON also develops new detection techniques forX-rays,infrared radiation, andvisible light. As national expertise institute, SRON gives council to the Dutch government and coordinates national contributions to international space missions.
The Laboratorium voor Ruimteonderzoek (LRO;lit. transl. Laboratory for Space Research) was founded in 1961 in Utrecht as one of SRON's predecessors. In 1983, it joined forces with the space labs inLeiden andGroningen under the nameStichting Ruimteonderzoek Nederland (SRON;lit. transl. Foundation Space-Research Netherlands) as part of theDutch Research Council (NWO). Later, the Leiden lab merged with the Utrecht location. By 2005, the organization was renamed SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research and in 2025 Space Research Organisation Netherlands. In 2021, the Utrecht lab was relocated back to Leiden. Since then, SRON has been headquartered inLeiden with additional facilities inGroningen.
The institute has over 250 staff members who are employed across four program lines:Astrophysics,Earth observation,Exoplanets, andTechnology, and two groups of expertise:Engineering andInstrument science.
SRON's develops scientific instruments for space research satellites and conducts scientific research based on the resulting data. It participates in international space missions including those led by theESA,NASA andJAXA. In the field of astrophysics, SRON mainly contributes to missions regardinginfrared (e.g. IRAS, ISO,Herschel),X-rays (e.g.Beppo-SAX,Chandra,XMM-Newton),exoplanets (e.g. PLATO,ARIEL) andgravitational waves (e.g. LISA). SRON also participates in earth observation missions, such asENVISAT,Sentinel-5p andPACE. SRON-researcher Ilse Aben received theStevin Prize in 2025 for the societal impact she achieved with the TROPOMI instrument onboard Sentinel-5p.
The instrument contributed by SRON is in parentheses.
SRON develops new technologies to detect radiation from space, includingX-rays,infrared radiation andoptical light.
For X-ray missions such asAthena, SRON scientists developTransition Edge Sensors (TES). These work at the exact temperature at which their material is on the verge of asuperconducting state. When an X-ray photon falls in from space, the material heats up a tiny bit and the superconducting state collapses. The readout current drops as a result, and the instrument knows that it has detected a photon. The energy of the photon is proportional to how much superconductivity is lost.
For infrared and exoplanet missions,Kinetic Inductance Detectors (KID) are developed at SRON. These also work at superconducting temperatures.Kinetic inductance is the manifestation of inertia in mobile charge carriers. In an alternating current the direction of a current keeps changing, which takes effort, just like it costs some effort to shake a mass back and forth. In a superconducting state this effort doesn't apply because electrons have formed pairs and therefore flow without any resistance through the material. When a photon hits from space, it breaks up several electron pairs, hampering the superconducting state and the kinetic inductance increases. This is measured by the instrument and it knows that it has detected a photon. The energy of the photon is proportional to the amount of electron pairs are broken up.
Other infrared missions such asGUSTO make use ofHot Electron Bolometer (HEB) technology.
SRON's participates in international missions from theEuropean Space Agency,NASA andJAXA.
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