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Matteo Ceriotti

@mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
17 followers 3 following 134 posts

Rocket scientist 🚀 (#space systems #engineer) at University of Glasgow 🎓 - Content and opinions my own. #Science #Engineering #STEM #Skepticism Born in #Italy […] 🌉 bridged from ⁂ mastodon.social/@mtcerio, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact

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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 08/10/2026
Margaret Hamilton, the woman who wrote code that guided the Apollo missions to the Moon, has passed away. RIP www.technologyreview.com/2019/08/16… #Space #MargaretHamilton #Apollo #Moon #NASA #women #womeninstem
Margaret Hamilton next to a printout of the Apollo code
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 05/10/2026
2026 Space Reflector Baseline Survey What role could sunshades play in stabilizing the climate? This is the most is the most comprehensive look at this topic yet. The Planetary Sunshade Institute set out to analyse six different #sunshade architectures, and […] [Original post on mastodon.social]
2026 Space Reflector Baseline Survey cover page
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 07/09/2026
📢 The 8th International Symposium on Space Sailing (ISSS 2027) will take place at the University of Surrey in Guildford, United Kingdom, 21-25 June 2027. www.isss2027.com ISSS 2027 welcomes contributions on solar sails, drag sails, electric sails, planetary […] [Original post on mastodon.social]
ISSS 2027 logo and announcement
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 09/07/2026
Just published by Edward Tomanek-Volynets: Artificial Neural Network Fine-Tuning to Increase Accuracy of Low-Thrust Space Trajectory Cost Approximators #Free, #OpenAccess: doi.org/10.1016/j.ast.2026.113094 #space #MachineLearning #engineering #UofG #Academia #Research
Abstract and front page of the article
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 30/03/2026
A beautiful #live visualisation of #launches and #satellites rocketmapper.com #space #launch #satellites
Screenshot of rocketmapper.com
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 26/03/2026
Amirah's work just published: Guiding asteroids to form an artificial binary system using continuous control acceleration #free #openaccess: doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2026.03… #space #asteroid #PhD #UofG #research
Cover page of paper
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 05/03/2026
Save the date! We are happy to announce that the European Conference for AeroSpace Sciences (EUCASS 2027) will be held in Glasgow, Scotland, 28 June – 2 July 2027 We look forward to welcoming many students, researchers and delegates! eucass2027.eu […] [Original post on mastodon.social]
EUCASS 2027 banner and logo
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/02/2026
Just published by Fabienne Seibert: Repurposing planetary sunshade sailcraft from displaced Sun-Earth L1 for the deflection of #asteroid 2024YR4 #free #openaccess: doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2026.01.055 This work is in collaboration with #DLR and FH […] [Original post on mastodon.social]
Screenshot of paper front page
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/01/2026
#NASA #Artemis2 could launch as soon as 7th February. This is the free-return trajectory to the #Moon and back: #space #nasa #moon #artemis2
Artemis 2 trajectory
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 13/01/2026
#LinkedIn #enshittification continues...
LinkedIn suggests puzzle game
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 08/01/2026
#Glasgow #Skeptics event: "NASA: For the benefit of all?" Dr Graeme Eddolls, #UofG graduate and former #NASA researcher January 13, 2026 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm, The Admiral Woods glasgowskeptics.com/event/nasa-for-… #free #seminar #space #talk #glasgow #NASA
Flyer
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 14/11/2025
Applications Now Open - #EPSRC Centre for #Doctoral Training in #Diversity-Led, Mission-Driven Research (#DiveIn CDT) Are you passionate about using your STEM expertise to make a real difference? DiveIn CDT at the University of Glasgow offers an innovative […] [Original post on mastodon.social]
DiveIn is now open for applications. Join us! 
Based at the University of Glasgow, our innovative Centre for Doctoral Training is focused on bringing together 
diverse teams to tackle interdisciplinary, mission-driven challenges at the forefront of research.
During the 4-year PhD, students will take part in a bespoke training programme, supported with networking 
events and tailored coaching, and take advantage of the research and placement opportunities provided by our 
wide range of external partners. 
We offer fully funded studentships, which cover tuition fees and research and training support, with the provision 
of an enhanced stipend, aiming to remove financial barriers. Part-time study options are also available. 
We prioritise diversity, creating an inclusive space for varied talents to produce transformative interdisciplinary 
research, bringing together world-changing experts from various fields to tackle complex problems and ensuring 
that our research is impactful and aligned with broader societal goals.
Our Strategic Research Areas are: 
Beyond Net Zero
Bridging the Digital Divide
Planetary Health
Transforming Health and Healthcare
AI & Big Data
Advanced Connectivity Technology 
Advanced Materials
Quantum Technologies
Photonics
Engineering Biology
Applicant Webinar: 26 November 2025
Application Deadline: 31 January 2026
PhD Start: 1 September 2026
During this project cycle, DiveIn has 
received funding for 5 intakes, ending 
recruitment in 2029.
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/11/2025
Just published by Edward Tomanek-Volynets: Transfer Learning for Sample-Efficient Training of Space Trajectory Cost Approximators in #IEEE Transactions on #Aerospace and Electronic Systems #UofG #ML #ANN #AI #space #engineering #academia #PhD
Abstract:
The preliminary stage of space mission design often requires evaluating a large number of orbital transfers. This is especially the case for multi-target missions, where a combinatorial problem involving millions of orbital transfers must be solved. Existing techniques for calculating the cost of each transfer are time-consuming, so can render the combinatorial problem intractable. [ ... ]This work addresses the scenario where a number of spacecraft models, each with its own thrust, specific impulse and mass, need to to analysed for a mission. Normally, this would involve creating a large database and training a different ANN for each spacecraft. In the proposed approach, an ANN is trained on one spacecraft (acting as a ‘baseline’), and fine-tuned on smaller databases for each other spacecraft. It is shown that, if a sufficiently good accuracy can be obtained on the baseline database, the fine-tuning approach requires fewer training samples to achieve a given accuracy than if an entirely fresh model were trained, and saves time on the hyperparameter tuning required to construct a fresh model. Therefore, we propose to train an ANN once on a baseline spacecraft, then transfer this knowledge to an arbitrary number of other spacecraft by fine-tuning the baseline ANN.
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 25/09/2025
#UofG Students: want to study abroad for one year? Explore Go Abroad Wednesday 1 October, 11:00-15:00, Glasgow University Union #UofG #academia #study #Glasgow #University
Explore Go Abroad
Wednesday 1 October, 11:00-15:00, Glasgow University Union
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 23/09/2025
Ready to start the semester! Looking forward to meeting my students tomorrow at #UofG #academia #teaching #space #engineering #UofG
Space flight dynamics notes
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 22/09/2025
Equinox: day and night last 12 hours at any latitude on Earth. Credit: NOAA/GOES-19 #equinox #goce #earth #space
Earth's view from GOES, half illuminated
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 09/09/2025
Just published on #AIAA #JGCD, Zitong Lin's first journal article: "Displaced Solar Sail Orbits Around Asteroids with Free Angular Velocity" doi.org/10.2514/1.G008805 #space #academia #PhD #SolarSailing #asteroids
Displaced Solar Sail Orbits Around Asteroids with Free Angular Velocity
This paper investigates displaced solar sail orbits around an asteroid, characterized by free angular velocity andthe orbital plane that is always perpendicular to the direction of solar illumination. It enables precise control of orbitshape and spatial orientation, as well as improving coverage to the asteroid under varying sunlight directions. It isfound that the angular velocity must be constrained within certain bounds to ensure controllability, which can leadto full orbit circles or orbit arcs in the inertial frame. A nonlinear controller is designed to track real-time-requiredattitude angles α;δ, incorporating a δ-switching strategy to ensure bounded angular velocity. A novel missionconcept of long-term displaced orbit around 433 Eros throughout its heliocentric orbit using available solar sailtechnology is proposed based on the preceding studies.
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 13/08/2025
(Neo) Dr Robert Gordon #PhD thesis is now online #OpenAccess 🎓 #Attitude #control and design of #satellites with flexible structures using Inverse Simulation theses.gla.ac.uk/85386 Congrats Robbie, a great piece of research! #space #academia #phd #satellite #control #engineering
Robert Gordon PhD thesis cover
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 13/08/2025
#UK #Government suggests to "delete old emails and pictures" to save #water at home www.gov.uk/government/news/national… #facepalm #uk #water #drought #government
Gov.uk asks to delete old emails and pictures
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 09/08/2025
Ad Astra, #astronaut Jim Lovell. Pilot of #Apollo 8, first to orbit the #Moon Commander of Apollo 13, bringing everyone safe back to #Earth after "a problem" #space #rip #Apollo #Moon #astronaut
Jim Lovell
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 25/07/2025
Remembering the #Concorde accident exactly 25 years ago, which killed 113 people and changed the #aviation landscape forever. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France_Fl…
concorde on flames
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/07/2025
The 7th International Symposium on Space Sailing #ISSS2025 is in full swing at #TUDelft #Netherland and #UofG's #Space and Exploration Technology (SET) group is well represented! www.tudelft.nl/lr/isss-2025 #space #engineering #conference #solarsailing
UofG team photo at ISSS2025
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 11/06/2025
Happy to support Craft Prospect Ltd on a new project from the European Space Agency #ESA @esa: ‘Robust real-time constrained #optimal #control using machine learning’ (ROC-ML) It will demonstrate machine learning algorithms for motion planning in orbital […] [Original post on mastodon.social]
ROC-ML logo
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 09/06/2025
As part of the #ISSS2025 conference, there will be a public lecture by Les Johnson of #NASA: Sailing on Sunlight: The Promise of Solar Sails in Space Exploration Tuesday 1 July 2025, 19:30-21:30, Delft University, The Netherlands Free, but limited places […] [Original post on mastodon.social]
Sailing on Sunlight: The Promise of Solar Sails in Space Exploration
Imagine a spacecraft that glides through space without fuel, propelled only by the pressure of sunlight. Solar
sail propulsion, once the stuff of science fiction, is now a reality, offering a revolutionary way to explore the
solar system and eventually, the cosmos. Scientist and author, Les Johnson, will uncover the fascinating
physics behind solar sails and how they harness photons, the particles that make up sunlight, to push
spacecraft across the void. Les will discuss recent space missions using solar sails, highlighting their
groundbreaking achievements. Looking ahead, he will discuss upcoming projects and the possibility
of interstellar travel powered by solar sails, envisioning humanity's journey beyond the solar system. Join us
in discovering how these elegant, light-driven sails may one day help us reach the stars, unlocking a future
of deep-space exploration once thought impossible.
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 07/05/2025
Edward Tomanek-Volynets' #PhD #research has just been published: "The pointer network for reward maximisation in multi-target space mission sequence selection" This work uses machine learning to optimise sequences of targets to visit in a multi-target […] [Original post on mastodon.social]
Multi-target space mission scenarios such as asteroid rendezvous, debris removal or satellite servicing, require targeting several orbits
in a single mission, often to be selected among a large set, and therefore choosing optimal sequences of these orbits to be visited. This
paper demonstrates a reinforcement-learning-based framework for selecting the sequence of targets to be visited in large-scale multitarget mission optimisation problems. The sequence selection is a NP-hard combinatorial optimisation problem. The proposed method
builds upon a neural network architecture for combinatorial optimisation originally developed for Euclidean problems, to produce estimates of the optimal sequence of targets in very short amounts of time. The neural network is trained using a policy-gradient
reinforcement-learning approach. Once training is complete, the network can be evaluated in two ways: one of these (greedy decoding)
produces solutions on average 15% less optimal than Ant Colony Optimisation (ACO); the other (stochastic search) is on average 5%
less optimal than ACO, using an iterative process that is slower than greedy decoding but still orders of magnitude faster than ACO. The
quality of the network’s solutions is shown both averaged over large amounts of problems, and demonstrated more closely on a few
specific instances.
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/04/2025
#ESA published this image with a documentary-film to show the current #debris and active #satellites. "The colour-coded representation of debris in the image shows the number of objects of various sizes as well as active satellites" It is important to […] [Original post on mastodon.social]
The colour-coded representation of debris in the image shows the number of objects of various sizes as well as active satellites that are modelled to be circling Earth in August 2024.
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 29/03/2025
#NOAA #Satellites watch the arrival of #Spring from above, showing #Earth's terminator over the last year www.nesdis.noaa.gov/news/noaa-satel… Credit: NOAA, CIRA #space #earth #spring
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 20/03/2025
#Spring #Equinox as seen by #NOAA GOES-East Animation: www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/goes/fulld… Image credit: CIRA/NOAA
Earth Globe half illuminated by the sun
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 19/03/2025
Giving a talk on #Solar #Power from #Space at the Clydesdale Astronomical Society: www.clydesdaleastro.org.uk 14 April, 19:30 #space #seminar #solarpower #scotland #astronomy
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 19/03/2025
#Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are safe back on #Earth after nine unplanned months in #space www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c9de6q52g8qt #space #spaceflight #astronaut
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 11/03/2025
Total #Lunar #Eclipse 13/14 March 2025: what you need to know: science.nasa.gov/solar-system/moon/… TL;DR: starts at 6:20am in the UK #space #lunareclipse #astronomy
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/03/2025
Thanks #Inverclyde Skywatchers for inviting me! Interesting discussion on #solar #power from #space! www.facebook.com/inverclydeskywatch… #scotland #astronomy #inverclyde #seminar #space #solarpower
A few photos from the talk to Inverclyde Skywatchers group
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 17/02/2025
Kerissa Khan – University of Glasgow Aero75 Lecture 2025
Title: Pioneering Future Flight Innovation
Synopsis: We are in an exciting era pushing boundaries in innovation,
unlocking new possibilities for flight, and revolutionising how we connect
people and places.
This lecture will delve into the transformative potential of drones, Advanced
Air Mobility and electric regional aircraft, with a focus on cutting-edge
advancements in healthcare logistics and rural connectivity across Scotland.
It will also include insights and advice on embarking on a career in
aerospace.
Together, we will explore the innovative prospects that lie ahead and how
you can be part of the ‘transformation generation’ pioneering solutions for
sustainable flight.

Title: ‘Pioneering Future Flight Innovation’
Date: Wednesday 26th February 2025
Time: Doors Open at 18:00 for 18:30 start
Venue: Sir Charles Wilson Building 1 University Avenue, Glasgow, G12 8QQ.
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/02/2025
Last few days to submit an abstract to the 7th International Symposium on Space Sailing: www.tudelft.nl/lr/isss-2025 Deadline: Friday 7 February 2025 #space #engineering #conference
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/02/2025
11th European Conference for AeroSpace Sciences (EUCASS 2025): abstract submission deadline extended till 15 Feb www.eucass.eu #space #aerospace #conference
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 17/01/2025
At the same time, another part of the mission as successful: #SpaceX's Mechazilla caught the Super Heavy booster for the second time. Video: x.com/SpaceX/status/188002405004858… #space #launch #spacex
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 17/01/2025
#SpaceX #Starship 7 upper stage exploded and re-entered over the Caribbean www.space.com/space-exploration/pri… Video: x.com/deankolson87/status/188002675… #space #spacex #lauch
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 17/12/2024
Just published by Robbie Gordon: "Investigation of attitude control actuators for large flexible space structures using inverse simulation" doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2024.11.010 This study shows how different actuators can be distributed and used on a […] [Original post on mastodon.social]
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 13/12/2024
No.
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/12/2024
Time to move away from Adobe Acrobat Reader.
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Matteo Ceriotti @mtcerio.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 26/11/2024
James McCune Smith #PhD #Scholarships Are you a black UK-domiciled student wanting to undertake PhD research? Applications are now open for October 2025 entry with a deadline of 31 January 2025. glasgow.ac.uk/scholarships/mccune-smith
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