Flight Dynamics and Operational Support of Stratospheric Balloons
Analysis of the flight dynamics aspects and operational support of the missions carried out by the Italian
Space Agency (ASI) with stratospheric balloons.
Flight dynamics, mission analysis and simulation of stratospheric balloons, study and implementation of
flight control techniques, mission operations, flight safety including the launching and landing phases,
design and development of software tools for flight monitoring, control and prediction, and support to the
flight activities of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) in Italy and in the polar regions.
Planetary Science and Dynamical Astronomy
Physics and dynamics of asteroids, non gravitational perturbations, space experiments on fundamental
physics.
Aspects of celestial mechanics, solar system dynamics, physical and dynamical evolution of asteroids, space geodesy,
physics of gravitation, tests of General Relativity, non gravitational perturbations, space experiments on
fundamental physics, and solar system exploration.
Satellite Re-Entry Predictions
Orbital decay predictions of risky space objects, participation in international re-entry campaigns and study
of the error sources in drag modeling.
Re-entry predictions of potentially risky space objects for the Italian Civil Protection authorities,
performance evaluation of different atmospheric density models, study of the error sources in drag
modeling, development of software tools for trajectory propagation and ballistic parameter estimation,
participation in the international re-entry test campaigns promoted by the Inter-Agency Space Debris
Coordination Committee (IADC), and re-entry predictions and risk assessment for Italian satellites.
Space Debris
Orbital debris modeling and mitigation.
Orbital debris environmental models, debris clouds dynamics, modeling of sources and sinks, traffic
models, short and long term evolution in low earth (LEO), mean earth (MEO) and geostationary orbit (GEO),
satellite constellations, evaluation of impact risk, assessment of mitigation measures effectiveness,
spaceborne tethers survivability, support to space projects and operations, development of software tools,
mitigation guidelines and standards, space surveillance, and participation in international committees and
working groups.
Space Mission Analysis, Design and Operational Support
Analysis of space mission trajectories, maneuvers, critical event planning and ground coverage.
Trajectory design for terrestrial, lunar and interplanetary missions, critical event planning, ground coverage
requirements, flight dynamics software, trajectory perturbations, mission constraints, navigation, trajectory
determination, and flight dynamics operational support.
