Walter studied physics and worked in German aerospace research before selection for the German Spacelab program. His career combined physics, engineering, and later academic work.

He flew STS-55, the German D-2 Spacelab mission aboard Columbia. The mission carried a German-led microgravity laboratory with experiments in materials science, life science, technology, and fluid physics. The flight mattered because it extended Germany's Spacelab research program inside the shuttle era.

Ulrich Walter flew on STS-55. The birthplace listed as Iserlohn, Märkischer Kreis, Arnsberg Government Region, Province of Westphalia, Free State of Prussia, Soviet occupation zone of Germany, Germany gives the profile geographic context, but the career is best understood through the training, mission role, and program responsibilities described above.