IST LUNCH BUNCH

This seminar presents new technologies in astrodynamics, used by three international space agencies (NASA, Europe's ESA, and Japan's JAXA). The technologies enabled several key Solar System missions, including the BepiColombo mission to Mercury, the JUICE mission to Ganymede, and the recovery of the Akatsuki mission to Venus. We will also present PROCYON, the first deep-space micro-spacecraft, which was launched in 2014 and opened a new era of space exploration by micro- and nano-sat.

Space missions have become more ambitious, and their costs and risks have grown to the point that they cannot be easily supported under current budgetary constraints. Astrodynamics techniques have great leveraging power to reduce the net costs and risks, and allow many more missions to be undertaken successfully. Astrodynamics advances and tools are also essential for any future deep-space micro- and nano-sat.

Space exploration has entered a new golden age. In last few years alone, multiple spacecraft reached across the Solar System, from Mercury to Pluto and beyond. Even more missions are planned for the coming years, thanks to the developments on launch vehicles and small sat components.