LUXE - a QED Experiment at the European XFEL

The proposed experiment aims to measure QED in the presence of strong fields and above the Schwinger critical field. An experiment is being considered at the European XFEL, which should be able to measure non-perturbative QED and its transition from the perturbative regime. This paper presents the current status of the LUXE (Laser und XFEL Experiment) design study. First layout considerations; accelerator beam line design, electron and laser beam parameters, radioprotection issues and first results of the start to end simulations will be presented and discussed in detail. An outlook concerning the implementation into the XFEL schedule and timeline of this experiment will be given