Aerospace

News

Heinz Stoewer Space Award 2023 for Best Graduate Mireia Leon Dasi

The best graduate of the faculty in 2022, Mireia Leon Dasi, has now also won the Heinz Stoewer Space Award 2023 for her graduation project on predicting and preventing collisions with space debris.

Fireball camera network FRIPON officially handed over to TU Delft

The coordination of the Dutch branch of the allsky fireball camera network 'FRIPON' has been handed over from ESA-ESTEC to the TU Delft. In a formal event ESA-scientist Detlef Koschny handed over the network to its new coordinator Sebastiaan de Vet of the section Astrodynamics & Space Missions

Vidi for Jeannette Heiligers and her space duster on sunlight

Assistant Professor Astrodynamics & Space Missions Jeannette Heiligers is one of two AE researchers who’ve been granted a Vidi grant by the Dutch Research Council NWO. Her proposal – called SWEEP - investigates the idea of a “shuttlebus” to clean up space debris.

Space Stories

'Elderly' first Dutch nanosatellite celebrates fifteenth birthday

She is affectionately referred to as "the old lady". After 15 years in space, she can safely be called very elderly. Few of her peers are still operational at her age. But the old lady is also hard of hearing and barely understandable. This month, the self-proclaimed adventurers who built her, celebrate her birthday but fear it will be her last. Proud father of the very first hour Chris Verhoeven (Faculty of EEMCS) and current caretaker Stefano Speretta (Faculty of AE) describe the Delft nanosatellite Delfi-C3 that exceeded all expectations.

Is there life elsewhere in our solar system?

A grand odyssey of exploration is about to begin. Humankind’s next bold mission to the outer solar system. ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice), is poised to explore giant planet Jupiter and its largest moons. After years of preparations, Juice will be launched into space on April 13 from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana. The mission, in which TU Delft plays a leading role in the experiment PRIDE, is diving into orbit of a moon other than Earth's for the first time. Something the Americans, Japanese and Chinese have never succeeded in doing before.

Mars is not a back-up option

What can planetary science on the bone dry Mars teach us? What happened to its atmosphere? And, are there possible fall-back options for humankind on Earth? In context of the National Climateweek, we spoke with Sebastiaan de Vet, planetary scientist at TU Delft.

The women on a mission to reduce space debris

Over a million objects larger than one centimetre are orbiting the environment around Earth, threatening space operations and the future of space exploration. With their start-up Ecosmic, Gaia Roncalli, Benedetta Cattani and Mireia Leon Dasi are on a mission to tackle the rapidly increasing space debris issue. Roncalli, the recipient of the 2022 International Aviation Women's Association (IAWA) scholarship, and the all-female Ecosmic leadership team are contributing to a sustainable future and inspiring others along the way.

Revolutionary simulation model prevents disasters in space

Over six million kilogrammes of space debris are circling around the Earth at tremendous speed and is posing a danger to the functioning of satellites and thus to things like our data traffic. Mireia Leon Dasi designed a revolutionary simulation model to very precisely predict, and hence prevent, crashes of space debris. This earned her the title of Best Graduate 2022 at the Faculty Aerospace Engineering. Using the NWO subsidy granted to her start-up, she is now further developing her idea for use in practice.

Climate research: the inestimable value of space

Research from space provides us with valuable insights on climate change. Jérôme Loicq, associate professor in Space Instrumentation, researches and develops tools that allow us to accurately study changes in vegetation on Earth and greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. "Space is invaluable for climate research."

The birth of the Delfi-PQ mini satellite

Imagine being able to launch a satellite that would fit in your pocket and send it into space. It wouldn't only be cheap, it would also enable whole swarms of satellites to work together. A swarm would give a much clearer picture of the radiation in space and the atmosphere around planet Earth. Early January 2022 the mini satellite of Alessandra Menicucci’s team was launched with a Falcon 9 rocket in the Transporter-3 mission of SpaceX from Cape Canaveral. The team hopes they will be able to breathe life into one of the world’s smallest satellites in space.

Heading for space to save the Earth

A membrane the size of the European continent. Together with other scientists, TU Delft researcher Jeannette Heiligers is currently exploring the possibilities for positioning a gigantic solar shield in space to combat global warming. A huge intervention which is not without its own issues.