Florian M. Schwandner

Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR) • Director for Applications and Science

Dr. Florian M. Schwandner serves as Director for Applications and Science at the German Space Agency at DLR since early 2026, leading a diverse portfolio of national priorities around satellite communications, space science, research under space conditions, space exploration, Earth observation, innovation, and new markets.

Prior to his role at DLR, Schwandner held leadership positions at NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, led research teams at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and served as advisor and co-lead for several NASA Earth Science strategy efforts, including its 2024 Earth Science to Action decadal strategy, the 2026 CORE 2.0 Report (Challenges and Opportunities for Research in ESI /Earth Surface and Interior), and others. At NASA, he touched on all phases of the mission cycle and strengthened collaborations with the Japanese Space Agency.

Prior to his NASA career, he spent time at the Earth Observatory of Singapore building capacity and science-based technical solutions for disaster monitoring and successful natural disaster early warning in several South East Asian countries. Earlier in his career, he conducted research on agricultural emissions, volcanic gases, natural disaster databases, astrobiology, as well as atmospheric and analytical chemistry.

Schwandner has served on boards of international non-profits, several science community organizations, and was twice elected as section president of the Asia Oceania Geoscience Society (AOGS). Raised in Germany and Greece, he studied Earth Science at the Freie Universität Berlin and the University of Washington. He holds a PhD from ETH Zürich (Switzerland).

Events

77th International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2026)

5 - 9 October 2026

Antalya, Türkiye

Participation: