Center For Space Research and Technology

The Center for Space Research and Technology (CSRT) was founded in 2023 (Law 5029/2023 - 55/Α/10-3-2023), to replace the “Office Of Space Research and Technology” (OSRT) that was established in February 2006, following the election of Prof. Stamatios M. Krimigis to the chair of “Space Science - Theory and Applications” of the Academy of Athens on November 4, 2004.

Since 2006 OSRT has became a major player in leading international Space Science and Technology collaborations (PI and/or Co-I) pushing the envelope across the field of Space Science Research and Technology in a diverse range of research activities, such as NASA’s and/or ESA’s Voyager 1 & 2, Cassini-Huygens, MESSENGER, Parker Solar Probe, JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) and New Horizons missions. CSRT continues to be at the forefront of recent developments at an international level, with many substantial contributions in cutting-edge scientific and technological endeavors, such as the NASA funded SHIELD DRIVE Science Center (Boston, USA) and the study of the innovative Interstellar Probe space mission (Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Laboratory). The science projects of CSRT include on-going collaborations with important research institutions around the globe, such as the Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Laboratory (USA), Boston University (USA), Southwest Research Institute (USA), University of Maryland (USA), University of Alabama in Huntsville (USA), University of Michigan (USA), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA), Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (USA), California Institute of Technology (USA), University of Arizona (USA), University of Bern (Switzerland), the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (Germany), ONERA - The French Aerospace Lab (France), Institute de Recherch en Astrophysique et Planetologie (France), the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece) and others.

In brief, through the years, the Center has contributed more than 300 peer-reviewed scientific publications in high impact science journals (35 of which are published in Nature and/or Science), more than 20 White Papers in response to NASA and/or ESA calls, has organized and/or co-organized several international conferences, workshops and/or sessions in leading organizations around the globe, such as the 44^th Congress of the Committee of Space Research (COSPAR; Athens, 16-24 July 2022) where the Supervisor of CSRT was the head of the Scientific Committee, has been engaged in educational activities, such as the supervision of MSc and Ph.D degree theses and has participated in a plethora of public engagement activities in a broad range of disciplines related to space exploration.

The mission of CSRT is the advancement of science research in the fields of Space Sciences with emphasis in Space Plasma Physics and development of applications related to Space Science and Technology. CSRT operates in direct response to the aims and scopes of the Academy of Athens (AoA) and its research interests (and public outreach) include, but are not limited to: Magnetospheric Physics, Planetary Physics, Heliosphere Physics and Plasma Physics with emphasis in the analysis of data provided by past and ongoing space missions. CSRT also advises the Hellenic Space Center (HAC), when called upon, on scientific and/or technical issues. 

A brief presentation of the contributions of CSRT in recent years (2006-2021) can be found on pages 89-100 in the chapter entitled “The work and the contribution of the Research Centres, Offices and Institutions of the Academy of Athens”, published in 2022 by the Academy of Athens.