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Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences SATW
Swiss precision in space
Switzerland does not launch any large rockets of its own, but it is involved in research missions throughout the solar system. Universities develop scientific instruments, companies supply high-precision technology, and a growing number of start-ups are seeking to develop new business opportunities from this.
Swiss Young Academy SYA
Blog
Bridging research and practice
He brings together people from within and beyond academia – with the aim of helping us respond more effectively to climate change. Benjamin Hofmann is a researcher at ETH Zurich’s TdLab. As a member of the Swiss Young Academy, teaching is particularly important to him.
Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences SATW
News
More Swiss research in space: Florian Kehl on the development of space missions at ETH Zurich
Four telescopes that must maintain a stable focus on extremely faint galaxies for an exceptionally long time, and detectors that remain at a constant temperature of around –130 degrees Celsius throughout: the ARRAKIHS space telescope has been built to the very limits of what is technically possible. In June 2026, the European Space Agency (ESA) gave the go-ahead for the mission – with a Swiss contribution for which Florian Kehl was responsible until the end of 2025. To ensure that such contributions do not remain isolated cases, in addition to high-quality research, we need structures, streamlined processes and people who can get entire missions off the ground. This is precisely what Kehl is working on today as Director of Space Research Initiatives at ETH Zurich | Space. In an interview with SATW, he explains what makes ARRAKIHS so technically challenging, just how competitive Switzerland really is when it comes to securing leadership roles in European missions, and why, in his view, the search for extraterrestrial life might be on the verge of yielding an answer.
News
Article on the SWEET programme published
The Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) commissioned science journalist Benedikt Vogel to write an article on the public funding programme SWEET (SWiss Energy research for the Energy Transition).