A substantial part of my research involves analyzing ‘safety’ of near-Earth spacecraft operations from a probabilistic point of view, which involves pieces of theory from large deviations, stochastic barrier functions and Bayesian inference. Two different but equally important aspects are at the core of my work. First, improving space surveillance and tracking, also known as space domain awareness; in particular, estimating unknown spacecraft maneuvers. Second, improving the computation of collision probabilities between space objects.

The motivation for adopting this topic stems from the lack of international regulations governing the space domain over the past several decades, and recent innovations in the space industry which further facilitate access to space (e.g. reusable launchers and small satellites). Both of these factors have led to concerning levels of congestion within strategically important orbital regions, which are now facing a critical eventuality: the Kessler syndrome, i.e. a potential collision in space that could trigger a cascading series of unstoppable subsequent collisions. This would leave entire orbital regimes inoperable for several years, or even decades.

In addition, I also investigate decentralized guidance algorithms for the recently adopted Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission, which lies beyond the scope of safety. 

After the defence there will be a small reception at Fredrik Bajers Vej 7, A4-106