Course Director
Martina is the System Engineer of the IRIS programme of the Telecommunications and Integrated Applications Directorate (TIA) at the European Space Agency (ESA).
Since 2018, she is responsible for all the system aspects concerning Iris project implementation, targeting the development of a satellite-based communication system for Air Traffic Management (ATM) and the design of its long-term evolution.
She joined ESA in 2010 in the Communication systems and techniques section of the RF Payload system division, Technology, Engineering and Quality Directorate where for more than 8 years she has been responsible of many Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) projects, focusing on high throughput satellite systems end-to-end performance, successfully developing technologies to improve Satellite Communications and contributing to the related standards.
Martina received her M.S. degree, in Telecommunication Engineering from the University of Pisa, Italy, in 2008. Before joining ESA, she worked at M.B.I. s.r.l., a telecommunication company in Pisa, as a communication system engineer.
Course Director
Claudia Anita Maria Fiorentino started her career in the space sector joining Alenia Spazio spa (ALS now Thales Alenia Space Italia) where she has he held different positions in the field of Satellite AIV/AIT working 12 years in several GEO and LEO TLC satellite projects (SICRAL, Globalstar, ARTEMIS, Italsat FM2), and LOE OE projects as Radarsat-2 and PRIMA, the TAS “Common Platform” for LEO Earth Observation programmes. She joined the Italian Space Agency (ASI) in 2006 where she has been involved in the Cosmo-SkyMed integrated ASI/It-MoD Programme Office as E2E System Verification Manager of the first generation and then Mission Manager of the Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation Programme. At ESA since 2017 as Senior Satellite System Development Engineer in the Directorate of Telecommunications & Integrated Applications (TIA), she is also currently the TIA Directorate Security Officer.
Tutor
Project Manager QKDSAT at ESA/ESTEC
Nicolas Le Gallou has twenty-five years of experience as RF Payload, Optical Systems Engineer for Space Systems at ONERA (France), Thales Alenia (France) and ESA.
Nicolas has worked on several large projects, such as Galileo (Giove-B, IOV and FOC), AlphaS
AT, Gaia, EDRS and QKDSAT. He has also initiated, managed, and patented R&D activities related to RF power amplifiers.
In 2012 he joined the EDRS project first in charge of EDRS-A and EDRS-C payloads, and then as System Engineering manager leading the group in charge of End-to-End System design, ground segment and operations, deeply involved in both RF and Optical ISL developments.
Since 2020, Nicolas has been the project manager for QKDSAT leveraging Quantum Laser Optical technology for the delivery of encryption keys via satellite.
Tutor
Dr. Christopher Vasko currently works as a Quantum and Innovation Engineer at the European Space Agency (ESA). He combines expertise from engineering, academia, and international organizations to excel as a high-calibre generalist. At ESA he supports the development of optical and quantum technologies for space applications, such as in next-generation optical satellite networks, driving technical projects and strategic initiatives across multicultural teams. He has worked on projects in AI, Quantum Key Distribution and high speed optical satcom systems.
Christopher has a PhD in Applied Physics from Eindhoven University of Technology, focussed on applications of cold atmospheric pressure non-equilibrium plasmas to advance sustainable industrial processes. His contributions extend beyond academia, with roles at ESA involving strategic advice, market analysis, and policy development. Dr. Vasko has a great passion for STEM education and collaboration in the space sector.
Tutor
Daniele Dequal is System Engineer for the IRIS2 program of the Connectivity and Secure Communication Directorate (CSC) at the European Space Agency (ESA).
Since 2013 Daniele has been active in the research field of satellite quantum communication, formerly at Padua University and subsequently as a researcher at the Italian Space Agency. During this 10-years activity he participated to the first experimental demonstration of satellite-to-ground quantum communication, the first single photon transmission from MEO orbit and later from GNSS orbit, and to the development of the first Italian Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) receiver for satellite applications.
In 2023, he joined ESA as System Engineer working for the IRIS2 program (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite) and supporting the SAGA (Security And cryptoGrAphic mission) an EuroQCI (European Quantum Communication Infrastructure) as QKD expert.
Daniele received his M.S. in Physics at University of Padua in 2009 and his Ph.D. in Physics at University of Padua in 2013.
Tutor
Professor Dominic O’Brien is a Professor of Engineering Science at Oxford and leads the optical communications group. He is the Director of the UK National Hub in Quantum Computing and Simulation. He has a range of experience in optoelectronics research in industry and academia, and has authored or co-authored more than 200 publications in this area. His group has a wide range of experience in free space optical communications and optical wireless.
Tutor
Payload Manager in the Telecom and Integrated Applications Directorate in ESA/ESTEC
After 6 years in Thales Alenia Space (TAS-France) as AIT and antenna engineer, Pablo joined ESA/ESTEC in 2006. Since then, he has provided technical support to several ESA missions, first as RF & antenna expert, then as payload engineer and from 2014 as payload manager of EDRS-A and EDRS-C. Pablo is now managing industry contracts related to next generation optical communications that will help European industry to maintain its leadership in the field.
Pablo has 3 master degrees: in Telecommunication eng. (UPC - Barcelona), in Microwaves and Optical systems engineering (ENST - Brest) and in Space Studies (ISU - Strasburg). He is the inventor of two world patents. TAS awarded him a prize in 2005 for his contribution to space antenna feeds, he received the best innovative paper award in 2010 at ESA Antenna Workshop and the 2015 ESA Team excellence Award for coordinating the Telecom Payload Training at ESA.
Tutor
Dr. Zoran Sodnik is the ScyLight optical communication technology manager in the Telecommunications and Integrated Applications (TIA) directorate. ScyLight is a dedicated funding scheme for optical communication, quantum key distribution and photonics technology developments.
Zoran joined the European Space Agency (ESA) in 1993 as senior optical engineer, managing R&D activities, supporting ESA programs and developing optical communications technologies. He supervised the implementation of ESA’s first optical ground station in Tenerife, Spain.
In 2013 Zoran became head of the Optoelectronics Section dealing with the development of optical detectors, laser systems, photonics systems, quantum technologies, LIDAR and optical communication systems. In 2020 he joined the TIA directorate managing the implementation of ScyLight work plan activities.
Tutor
Eric Wille has been working as an optoelectronics system engineer for the European Space Agency since 2009. He is managing several technology development activities with European companies and research institutes in the fields of x-ray optics, quantum optics and laser communication. In the recent years, he has led several developments and system studies for quantum key distribution activities at ESA for the ScyLight and SAGA programme.
Eric studied physics at the Darmstadt University of Technology (Germany), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland) and University of Innsbruck (Austria), where he obtained a PhD (Dr.rer.nat.) in experimental quantum optics. During his academic career, he performed research in the fields of nonlinear dynamics, semiconductor diode lasers, ultracold quantum gases and quantum optics. His publications include more than 100 scientific and technical papers in peer reviewed journals and conference proceedings.
