Projects

Our projects cover a broad range of disciplines and issues at the intersection of aerospace and sustainability.

We are open to collaborations, joint initiatives and student projects.

Please contact us for more information.

Towards a net-zero carbon and sustainable space sector for Aotearoa New Zealand: stakeholder engagement

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Our research team is conducting a series of personal engagements, including interviews, workshops, and surveys, to understand the risks and opportunities of pursuing a more sustainable aerospace sector.

Experts are being sought from universities, aerospace industries, government agencies, astronomy, and sustainability initiatives to provide various perspectives and challenge our understanding of the current state.

Project team: Priyanka Dhopade, Adam Morris, Carolle Varughese, Lena Henry, Sarah Bickerton, Cody Mankelow, Stevie-Katavich Barton, Nicholas Rattenbury

Indigenous knowledges: Māori worldviews

In Aotearoa, the ongoing revitalisation of Māori astronomical traditions symbolises the necessary bicultural constitutional foundations, as set out in Te Tiriti o Waitangi, for a rapidly emerging aerospace sector.

This foundation means having authentic partnerships with tangata whenua, the Indigenous peoples. It means ensuring Māori voices are welcomed and respected at the decision-making stage and on what we choose to do in space.

We work with our wider Māori colleagues and organisations to identify opportunities for Māori-led projects on sustainability and aerospace.

Project team: Lena Henry, Te Kahuratai Moko-Painting, Priyanka Dhopade, Sarah Bickerton, Cody Mankelow, Catherine Qualtrough, Adam Morris, Carolle Varughese

Pictured: Paraone Luiten-Apirana, Stan Topping (Tāwhaki), Priyanka Dhopade, Julian Phillips (Tāwhaki), Catherine Qualtrough, Lena Henry, Te Kahuratai Moko-Painting

Active debris removal

Space debris have become exceedingly dangerous over the years as the number of objects in orbit continues to increase. Active debris removal (ADR) missions have gained significant interest as effective means of mitigating the risk of collision between objects in space. This PhD project focuses on the trajectory design and guidance of missions that remove multiple space debris at once, focusing on all phases of the transfer.

Project team: Minduli Wijayatunga, Roberto Armellin, Laura Pirovano.

Mapping space economy growth to global trends

This project maps trends from various published sources on the global space economy, climate risk scenarios and futures reports. The ongoing mapping provides an evidence base for shifts in geopolitical influences, emerging commercial services, and opportunities for circular and regenerative economics in the commercial space industry.

Project team: Ronda Geise, Adam Morris, Priyanka Dhopade

Social impact quantification of space-enabled data

Space-derived data plays a crucial role towards positive economic, environmental and social outcomes, e.g. satellite data services, Earth observation data.

This project maps out New Zealand's commercial satellite data ecosystem to better estimate the impact of space-enabled data. The novel method evaluates the significance, value and reach of various satellite data services. Such data can be used to improve socio-economic-environmental variables and outcomes of interest such as specific policy decisions.

Project team: Stevie Katavich-Barton, Priyanka Dhopade.

Corporate Social Responsibility in Aerospace

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) examines a company’s social responsibilities in several areas: Sustainability, Employee Health and Safety, Community Outreach, Human Rights, Diversity, and Ethics. CSR can be a valuable tool for companies as it is shown to improve profits, motivate employees, and aid in a public relations crisis.

This project will produce a new framework for aviation companies to implement, track and measure their CSR using quantitative and qualitative methods. Relevant insights will be extended to aerospace businesses (advanced aviation and space).

Project team: Natalie Porter, Kim Dirks, Priyanka Dhopade

Mapping international space missions to UN Sustainable Development Goals

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This student project involves mapping the projected outcomes of key missions, for e.g. MethaneSAT, onto the UN’s 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs). This mapping exercise will provide insight on how space-enabled data supports sustainable development on Earth, and make recommendations for an 18th SDG for the space environment.

Project supervisor: Priyanka Dhopade

Lifecycle assessments and eco-design for space missions

This team is developing a novel method for lifecycle inventory data collection during the R&D phase of a commercial satellite payload mission (Te Pūnaha Ātea). The gathering of foreground data is identified as a crucial part in this phase, e.g. component design, testing and personnel hours. This project will enable space organisations to collect more robust data and contribute to more effective eco-design of space missions.

Project team: Cody Mankelow, Leo Awata-Morley, Ben Taylor, Priyanka Dhopade

Thermal protection systems for reusable launch vehicles

This team is developing a new thermal protection system concept for reusable launch vehicles using Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) integrated with an active cooling system. This approach offers a lightweight, cost-effective alternative to very expensive materials like ceramic tiles and carbon/carbon composites. Additionally, it could mitigate localised hotspots through controlling coolant flow.

The potential applications extend beyond launch vehicles for rockets, to other supersonic and hypersonic vehicles. This research aims to increase the reusability and reliability of launch systems, thereby reducing the environmental impact from exponentially increased launch frequency. Ultimately, this project reflects our commitment to sustainable space exploration, emphasising that the technologies we develop for space should also support the sustainability of our planet.

Project team: Trista Ma, Nam Kyeun Kim, Priyanka Dhopade, Tom Allen

Image attribution: SpaceX Starship Re-entry, March 2024

On-orbit refueling systems

To meet the growing demand and address the orbital debris issue, it is crucial to reduce the need for single-use or replacement satellites. This means an increase in the life of in-orbit spacecraft systems and preparing them for longer duration missions with in-space refueling and servicing.

Liquid fuels are difficult to manage and control in the microgravity environment due to the unpredictability of gas bubble locations in the tanks. This team is developing a novel fuel transfer system to efficiently control and separate liquid and gas within surface tension fuel tanks in microgravity.

Project team: Ben Kirollos, Priyanka Dhopade.

Image attribution: "Zero gravity" by kaibara87 is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Modelling of atmospheric dynamics to understand effects of satellite re-entry

The re-entry of space debris, which releases hundreds of tons of metallic particles into the atmosphere annually, could have far-reaching consequences, including potential disruptions to the recovery of the ozone hole.

This PhD project aims to model atmospheric dynamics to understand transport mechanisms that influence where and how satellite materials disperse after re-entry. It will provide key insights and recommendations for the management and mitigation of satellite atmospheric re-entry by building on current understanding of the role of ozone in the atmosphere and climate system.

Project team: Annika Seppälä, Priyanka Dhopade

We are recruiting a PhD student for this project! Please read the project scope here and apply accordingly.

National emissions profile of New Zealand's helicopter fleet

In New Zealand, civil helicopters make up approximately 30% of aircraft registries and 15% of annual flight hours. A comprehensive understanding of how these emissions are spread both geographically and economically is required to plan for the most effective introduction of green technologies (e.g. sustainable aviation fuels and hybrid electric propulsion).

This project provides an emissions profile of civil helicopters on a national scale, segregated by industry sector, helicopter model and geographical regions within New Zealand, using CAA historical flight data from the past two decades.

Project team: Holly Ansley, Priyanka Dhopade

Enabling reusable launcher components with accurate measurements of re-entry thermal loads

Partially reusable commercial launch systems, such as those currently deployed by SpaceX and Rocket Lab, have shown the potential to reduce costs and environmental impact of space launches. One of the ongoing challenges is to safely recover suborbital rocket stages after re-entry to the Earth’s atmosphere at hypersonic speeds. Aerodynamic heating of the stage can cause surface temperatures to exceed 2000°C. Understanding this thermal environment is critical to designing better thermal protection systems and recovery architecture.

This student project explores numerical and experimental temperature measurement techniques to accurately predict & measure hypersonic re-entry temperatures. Some of the experimental techniques include thermocouple sensors, permanent-change thermal paints and infrared thermography.