The Technical Research Committee conducts innovative theoretical and experimental research and development across the broad spectrum of issues relating to interstellar studies, associated sciences and the arts.
The Technical Research Committee has the purpose of conducting innovative theoretical and experimental research and development across the broad spectrum of issues relating to interstellar studies, associated sciences and the arts. The committee is chaired by Andreas Hein, himself a research scientist of several years with advanced degrees in aerospace engineering and with multiple academic technical publications behind him. He leads a team which includes Dan Fries and Martin Langer, Angelo Genovese, Professor Remo Garattini, and others.
The focus of the committee is to work on the technologies and science to go to the stars. The strategy is to concentrate on areas that we think are highly promising for conducting such a mission and at are feasible in the foreseeable future. At the same time, we also look into high-risk, high-reward areas, which have not yet been covered by existing research.
Members of the Technical Committee
Andreas Hein
Chairman, Director
Andreas received his master’s degree in aerospace engineering at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen. He is now working on a PhD at the same university in the area of space systems engineering at the Institute of Astronautics, focusing on the application of heritage technologies to space systems.
He is currently doing a research stay at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) System Architecture Lab under the supervision of Professor Ed Crawley, focusing on the architecture and heritage use for X-ray astronomy missions.
He spent a semester abroad at the Institut Superieur de l’Aeronautique et de l’Espace in Toulouse, working on the numerical simulation of hypervelocity impact of space dust on spacecraft antennas. He also worked at the European Space Agency Strategy and Architecture Office on stakeholder analysis for future manned space exploration.
In his free time Andreas founded and leads Icarus Interstellar’s Project Hyperion: A design study on manned interstellar flight. He is also a core designer and module lead of Project Icarus.
Andreas is also active in the Scientific Workgroup for Rocketry and Astronautics (WARR) at his home university where he founded the space elevator and interstellar flight group. He is a member of the International Honor Society for Systems Engineering – Omega Alpha Association, a Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society, and a member of INCOSE.
Dan Fries
Funded by the Fulbright scholarship, Dan received his M.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering in 2013 from the Georgia Institute of Technology and is currently working towards his German diploma at the European Space Agency. His specialisation is in advanced airbreathing and space propulsion systems as well as atmospheric reentry.
Due to his personal interest, he also has experience with systems engineering and group management. In 2013/2014 he successfully led a team at the University of Stuttgart in the International Mars Inspiration Engineering Design Contest.
Angelo Genovese
Angelo Genovese received a Master’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering (specialising in Space Propulsion) at the University of Pisa, Italy, in 1992. He started to work as Electric Propulsion Engineer in the Italian space propulsion research centre “Centrospazio” in Pisa, developing Field Emission Electric Propulsion (FEEP) ion thrusters for ultra-precise positioning of scientific spacecraft.
In 2000 he moved to the Austrian Research Centres in Vienna, Austria, where he contributed to develop an Indium FEEP Micro-propulsion System from breadboard to qualification level for the ESA mission LISA Pathfinder. Since 2009 he has been working at Thales Deutschland, Ulm, Germany, on the development of the innovative ion thruster HEMPT, suitable for new-generation telecom satellites and advanced scientific missions.
Angelo has published more than 50 papers in conferences and scientific journals including JBIS, and he contributed to two patents on Indium FEEP ion thrusters. Profoundly interested in advanced space propulsion systems for interstellar precursor missions, he is a Corporate Member of the Initiative for Interstellar Studies (i4is), in particular involved in the Technical and Educational Committees. He has contributed to the i4is book “Beyond the Boundary” with a chapter on advanced electric propulsion. Angelo is also a member of BIS, Icarus Interstellar, Mars Society, Planetary Society.
Martin Langer
Martin is received his master's degree in aerospace engineering at the Technical University of Munich and is currently a PhD student at the Institute of Astronautics at the same university. His area of expertise is small satellites.
Nikolaos Perakis
Nikolaos Perakis completed his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Aerospace Engineering at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) with specialisation in space propulsion, spacecraft design and trajectory optimisation. He also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Physics with focus on nuclear and plasma physics from the same university. Since 2017 he has been working towards his PhD at the Chair of Turbomachinery and Flight Propulsion of the TUM, focusing on the combustion modeling of green propellants for space propulsion applications and specifically the combination of methane and oxygen. His work on the modeling and simulation of methane/oxygen rocket engines started during his Master’s thesis at Airbus Safran Launchers (ASL), where he developed a model with the purpose of accurately predicting the performance and heat loads of space propulsion devices. He previously worked on the development of an experimental rocket thrust chamber using nitrous oxide and ethylene as propellants in a pre-mixed configuration, while performing an internship at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Lampoldshausen. His involvement with interstellar travel began within the Project Icarus and continued with the Dragonfly Project of the i4is, during which he led a TUM-based team to the first place of the competition. His work on the Dragonfly project resulted in a novel method of combining magnetic and electric sails for deceleration in interstellar missions. His areas of expertise include mission analysis, orbital design, propulsion system optimization and systems engineering.