I obtained a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 2015 and a master’s degree in space engineering in 2018 at Politecnico di Milano. I am a PhD candidate within the COMPASS Group since February 2021. My research field focuses on the application of the continuum mechanics formalism to the modelling of space debris, to address the orbital propagation of large population of fragments at a limited computational cost. Main outcomes of my work are a probabilistic debris evolutionary model and sustainability metrics to measure the environmental impact of missions in space.
Current research within COMPASS
- Extension of a debris population model based on the density of orbiting objects through continuum mechanics. By abandoning the individual description of the fragments orbital dynamics, the tool guarantees the extension of space debris analyses to any object’s dimension.
- Development of a sustainability index to measure the impact of a mission on the space environment. The tool allows the identification of the most critical orbital regions for the proliferation of space debris and aims to support go/no-go decisions for future missions.
- Development of a high-fidelity probabilistic debris evolutionary model for the propagation of the whole space debris environment, accounting for sink-source terms.
Other research
- “Design, development and deployment of software infrastructure to assess the impact of a space mission on the space environment”, funded by the European Space Agency and carried out by Politecnico di Milano in collaboration with Deimos Space UK (Contract N°: 4000133981/21/D/KS).
- “Supporto alle attività IADC e SST WP-3100: Sviluppo e applicazione di modelli evolutivi”, funded by the Italian Space Agency.