Paolo Guardabasso

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Flight Dynamics Engineer at Exotrail

As humanity prepares for lunar surface operations and sustainable exploration of the Solar System, it is crucial to understand the psychological impacts of confined and isolated environments on astronaut performance. The Extended Reality Lunares Experiment (XRLE) is a collaborative effort between the Sasakawa International Center for Space Architec...

Fragmentation events are the most common source of artificial debris in space. Such events can happen for multiple reasons, ranging from collisions with active or inactive objects to propellant tanks or battery explosions. They are an inherent part of human activities in space, regardless of the location. At the same time, the interest in the Moon...

After almost 50 years from the last step on the Moon in 1972, Space Agencies and companies from all over the World are evaluating once again the need, potential, and benefits of human settlements on the Moon and beyond. Several spacecraft, landers, and rovers have already made their way on Earth’s only natural satellite, and more will come in the c...

In the coming years, the Gateway will be the first long-term manned station in the vicinity of the Moon. As a chaotic environment, the lunar space must remain free from debris, to ensure the safety of future missions. Therefore, a safe disposal solution for future cargo or satellites is essential. Among several possibilities, graveyard orbits are o...

Nowadays, the issue of space debris is becoming central to any operation in space. Future lunar exploration missions won't be exempted from this issue, with the aggravating factor of operating in a gravitational multi-body chaotic environment. Debris-related analyses often involve propagating numerous trajectories independent from each other. These...

The Moon appears to be the next, natural step in the exploration of the Solar System. Human lunar activity will soon increase significantly: plans for an orbiting international laboratory in the Moon's vicinity, the "Gateway", are now well established together with surface exploration missions, and the coming years will seemingly experience a stead...

In the expansion of humanity's presence beyond Earth, the Moon will play a key role both as a stepping stone and as an outpost for deep space operations. For this to occur, it is imperative to begin working towards the integrated development of interoperable technological capabilities that can ensure the thriving development of the Moon.

There is a clear, increasing interest towards the Moon, with the idea of establishing permanent human settlements on its surface and in orbit, assembling and operating a cislunar orbital laboratory, the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway (LOP-G), in a L 2 Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO). This new scenario will involve multiple actors, including nati...

The extended abstract presents the AMAZE helicopter as part of the robotic team involved in the exploration cascade of the Mars Analog Simulation AMADEE-20. Analog research is used to prepare and train for future Mars exploration missions, with the Austrian Space Forum (OeWF) having conducted 12 Mars analog missions as part of the AMADEE research p...

Due to its unique properties, the Geostationary Orbit (GEO) hosts one of the most relevant sectors of the satellite industry , with hundreds of satellites providing telecommunications, meteorology, military, and many other similarly crucial services. GEO satellites can be very expensive to build, launch and operate: they are hence expected to work...

The rising production rate of space debris poses an increasingly severe threat of collision to satellites in the crowded Geostationary Orbit (GEO). It also presents a unique opportunity to make use of a growing supply of in-space resources for the benefit of the satellite community. “The Recycler” is a mission proposed to source replacements for fa...

Aerial drones have the potential to revolution planetary exploration, as they can travel higher and faster than rovers but still allowing high-resolution sensing. In recent years, the possibility of using aerial vehicles on Mars went from concept to operations: Mars Helicopter, a small, autonomous rotorcraft developed at the Jet Propulsion Laborato...

Since its official introduction by the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) in the "Systems Engineering Vision 2020" (2007), Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) has become a standard during the design process of complex systems and has brought about vast improvements compared to traditional, document-based engineering. Neverthel...

The Moon, largely considered as the next stepping stone on the path of extending mankind’s reach beyond the ISS, is the focus of many national and international campaigns for manned exploration of the solar system. To enable and safeguard the survival of habitation and technological assets on the surface (facing nights lasting up to 14 Earth days a...

Assess the potential of thermal energy storage systems to store heat and re-use it for in-situ electricity production as means of supporting future lunar exploration scenarios.

Space exploration has recently witnessed a surge of renewed interest, in particular, the concept of a human mission to the Moon is increasingly being discussed by national agencies and private enterprises alike. A lunar base is commonly regarded as a good first step for humanity's expansion beyond Earth. This paper proposes a pre-phase A study abou...

As envisioned in the Global Exploration Roadmap, permanent human presence on the Moon will be a reality in future years. In this frame, missions to Lunar surface and orbit will be of interest to both public and private entities, and they will envisage In-Situ Resource Utilization for generating resources (propellant, construction materials, water)...

The project MESG: Moon Energy Storage and Generation, under development for ESA, targets the thermally challenging missions on the surface of the Moon, investigating the possibility to use in situ resources, i.e. processed lunar regolith using available source of radiation and energy to "build" an efficient thermal mass to be used to store within h...