Dynamics, Guidance & Control of Autonomous Orbital Systems: From Conception to Flight Experimentation

Speaker: Marcello Romano, University of Munich

Abstract: The presentation will offer an overview of selected past and present research efforts by Dr. Romano and his collaborators, spanning analysis, laboratory, and on-orbit experimentation. Research projects will be highlighted which focus on spaceflight mechanics, orbital robotics, space systems engineering, and space-based sustainability.

Biography: Marcello Romano is an Italian-American academic researcher, educator, and inventor specializing in astronautical engineering and space technology. His expertise spans spaceflight mechanics, orbital robotics, and space systems engineering. He is also active in transdisciplinary research on space-based sustainability. Since January 2025, Dr. Romano has served as full professor and chair of astrodynamics at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany. From 2004 to 2024, he was a professor and founding director of the Spacecraft Robotics Laboratory at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey, California, where he received the honorary title of NPS Emeritus Professor in 2025. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Italian Scientists and Scholars in North America Foundation (ISSNAF) and of the Network of Italian Scientists in Germany (SIGNev). Dr. Romano earned his Ph.D. (2001) and Laurea degree (1997) in Aerospace Engineering from Politecnico di Milano, Italy. He has held visiting positions at the Technical University of Munich (2011), Stanford University (2018), and NASA Ames Research Center (2018). In 2022, he was awarded a direct-call full professorship at Politecnico di Torino, from which he resigned in 2024. His honors include election as an Academician in the International Academy of Astronautics, Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), and Senior Member of IEEE. He has received two Menneken Awards for Excellence in Scientific Research, as well as the 2020 American Astronautical Society Patti Grace Smith Award. Dr. Romano has authored or co-authored more than sixty journal papers and holds eight patents. He will become editor-in-chief of Elsevier's Progress in Aerospace Sciences in January 2026.

Host: E.C. Wit, P. Zulian