Stela Tkatchova

Stela’s expertise is in the commercialization of space technologies. Previously she worked as a commercialization and project manager in the European space industry, managing a number of projects in the telecommunications (e.g. ESA ARTES INDIGO public private partnership, GOVSATCOM, O3B) and Earth observation (e.g. Copernicus Sentinel 1 and Sentinel 3) domains. Her expertise also includes managing and reviewing R&I exploratory projects in the aviation industry for the European Commission. As a commercialization manager, she co-founded a company and helped several SMEs and start-ups grow in the Newspace industry. Earlier in her career, she worked at ESA’s European Space and Technology Centre (ESTEC) on the EU Galileo and the International Space Station (ISS) programs.

She was awarded a PhD by the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering of TU-Delft, The Netherlands and a Master of Space Studies from the International Space University (ISU), Strasbourg, France. She has written numerous articles, books, produced webinars and podcasts on problems related to the commercialization of space technology, the Newspace economy, space debris mitigation, on-orbit servicing, active debris removal and cis-lunar exploration. Her recent scholarly interest is focused on the future evolution of technology innovations for space debris mitigation, on-orbit satellite servicing and active space debris removal services. She is the founder and former editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Space Technology Management & Innovation (IJSTMI).