The research infrastructure HALO (High Altitude and Long Range Research Aircraft) is a research aircraft for scientific research on the Earth’s atmosphere as well as for Earth observation and geophysical research. HALO goes back to an initiative of German scientists working on Atmospheric Science and Earth Observation. The purchase of HALO and its initial development into a scientitic platform was funded jointly by the German Ministry of Science and Education, the Helmholtz Association (HGF) and the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft.
The scientific use of HALO, both strategically and operationally, is governed by the HALO consortium, currently consisting of six German research centers and the DFG representing the German universities. The stand-by costs of HALO are completely funded by the consortium members, in different shares. Costs for flying scientific missions with HALO are usually covered by the actual partners participating in the missions. Partnership will vary from mission to mission.
DLR is the owner of HALO and responsible for the operation of HALO.
Regulations for the collaboration between the consortium members and the scientific use of HALO are stated in a contract signed by all members, the „Konsortialrahmenvertrag über die wissenschaftliche Zusammenarbeit in Projekten mit dem Forschungsflugzeug HALO“. The current contract was signed in December 2015 and is valid from January 1, 2016.
The following sections intend to give a brief overview on the main entities taking part in the governance of HALO and their present members.