The Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM) is an observatory on the International Space Station (ISS) that measures lightning and bursts of gamma-rays from thunderstorm clouds. The overarching goal is to understand the role of electrified storms in atmospheric dynamics. ASIM is a mission of the European Space Agency ESA’s SciSpace Programme for scientific utilization of the ISS and non-ISS space exploration platforms and space environment analogues. It is funded by the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science who supported ASIM from the Danish Globalization Fund for Climate Initiatives (2009–2012) via a special contribution to ESA, and by national and ESA funds from, Denmark, Spain, Norway, Italy, Poland and Belgium. The ASIM consortium is formed by Terma A/S, Technical University of Denmark, University of Bergen, University of Valencia, Polish Academy of Sciences Space Research Center, and OHB Italia. The Technical University of Denmark is leading the scientific advisory board to ESA and Terma A/S is the prime contractor under ESA for the payload development. Initial phases started in 2004 to 2009, and development started in 2010. ASIM was launched April 2nd, 2018, with CRS-14 Falcon-9/Dragon by SpaceX. The budget of ASIM is 35-40 MEUR. ASIM science data center (ASDC) is processing and distributing the ASIM data.
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Torsten Neubert from DTU Space’s Division of Astrophysics and Atmospheric Physics received the AGU Fellowship in December 2025 at the American Geophysical Union’s Autumn Meeting in New Orleans.
The AGU Fellowship, which was awarded to Torsten Neubert earlier in 2025, recognises 'groundbreaking research and leadership' in the field of electrical phenomena in the atmosphere, including blue jets and gamma-ray flashes from lightning. The research has been carried out in part using the ASIM instrument on the International Space Station, where DTU Space and Torsten Neubert have held the scientific leadership.
DTU Space is among the main driving forces behind the ESA ASIM mission, which was launched in 2018 and continues to deliver new scientific insights into lightning and electrical phenomena in space.
At the AGU Autumn Meeting, the Fellowship was formally conferred on Torsten Neubert during an 'by invitation only' induction ceremony (pictured). Each year, the American Geophysical Union selects 50 new Fellows from a global membership of approximately 65,000.
New lightning initiation model covered by CBS
Professor Victor Pasko discusses new research into lightning initiation and the work done by Nikolai Østgaard from Bergen.
Danmark har sammen med Norge og Den Europæiske Rumorganisation ESA besluttet at forlænge det danske rumprojekt ASIM’s levetid indtil foråret 2026. Et bevis på stærkt internationalt samarbejde, siger uddannelses- og forskningsministeren.
ASIM and its six very productive years in space have made the front page of the Danish Physical Society's journal, 'KVANT', with a splendid artist's representation of a gamma flash seen by ASIM from a magnetar, provided by the University of Bergen and Mount Visual. Issue 4 of the Danish Journal for Physics and Astronphysics will be appearing during December 2024. The journal and homepage are in Danish.
ASIM Collaborators Have Most-Downloaded Article in 2022
DTU Space researchers in the Atmospheric Electricity group have been awarded a diploma for from the American Geophysical Union journal Geophysical Research Letters for writing one of the most downloaded research papers in 2022. Christoph Köhn, Martin Bødker Enghoff and Olivier Chanrion wrote the paper entritled 'Streamer Discharges in the Atmosphere of Primordial Earth' with their colleague Sasa Dujko. While Olivier is an active member of the ASIM instrument team and Science Data Centre, the other researchers work on theoretical and mathematical models which are used to understand the processes seen in the ASIM data. Their current research focuses on how lightning streamers develop in atmospheres with various compositions, including the chemical composition and conditions of primordial Earth.
