3rd BSATA Brazilian School of Aerospace Technology and Astronomy
Get ready to explore space, technology, and the future with experts who are shaping the next generation of aerospace science and innovation.
Location: Instituto Mauá de Tecnologia (Praça Mauá, 01 - São Caetano do Sul - SP)
Alpha Auditorium / Building W, 504
Event fully in English.
Hybrid Event: Zoom link
October, 20th – Tuesday | Alpha Auditorium
| Time | Session | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 10:00–10:40 | Opening Session | — |
| 10:40–11:25 | Talk 1 · Pablo Gutiérrez-Marqués | When the Light Is Too Slow: Scientific Missions, Deep Space Operations, and the Tyranny of Distance |
| 11:25–11:55 | Talk 2 · Roberto Bertoldo Menezes | Machine Learning Applied to Astrophysics: Exoplanets, Black Holes, and Nuclei of Galaxies |
| 12:10–14:00 | Lunch Break | — |
| 14:00–14:45 | Talk 3 · Simone Del Togno | How the Space Environment Shapes Scientific Instruments: New Frontiers, Diverse Worlds |
| 14:45–15:30 | Talk 4 · Marco Furlan | QEMULA: A Virtual Environment for Aerospace Embedded Software Development |
| 15:30–16:15 | Talk 5 · Friederike Wolff | Spacecraft Design in Theory and Practice |
| 16:15–16:45 | Talk 6 · Rodrigo França | Modular Multi-Core Architecture for Flexible Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation |
| 17:00–17:15 | Closing Session of the 3rd BSATA | — |
Talk 1 · 10:40 – 11:25
Pablo Gutiérrez-Marqués
When the light is too slow: Scientific missions, deep space operations, and the tyranny of distance
Talk Description
In spite of the excitement they understandably cause with the data they produce, operating deep-space scientific missions is strongly conditioned by the huge distances between them and the Earth. The long and slow process of planning and monitoring the behavior of our explorers in space is an essential (but generally unknown) part of their success, just as much as the quality of the instruments onboard.
Speaker
Pablo Gutiérrez-Marqués is a Spanish aerospace engineer working at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research as the Project Manager for the Data Handling Unit (DHU) of the VenSpec Suite that will fly to Venus on board ESA's EnVision Mission.
Talk 2 · 11:25 – 11:55
Roberto Menezes
Machine learning applied to Astrophysics: exoplanets, black holes and nuclei of galaxies
Talk Description
Machine learning has been increasingly applied in different areas of science, mostly because of the growing amount and complexity of scientific data. In astrophysics, machine learning provides powerful tools for identifying patterns in large observational datasets and extracting physical information that can be difficult to obtain using traditional approaches. This talk presents applications of machine learning in astrophysics developed by the Núcleo de Sistemas Eletrônicos Embarcados (NSEE) over the last six years. Such applications address three major topics in contemporary astrophysics: detection and analysis of exoplanets, classification of the nuclear emission of galaxies, and the determination of the masses of supermassive black holes.
Speaker
Bachelor's degree in Physics from the Institute of Physics, University of São Paulo (2006); Master's (2009) and PhD (2012) degrees in Astrophysics from the Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics and Atmospheric Sciences, University of São Paulo. Postdoctoral research in Astrophysics at the Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics and Atmospheric Sciences, University of São Paulo (2012–2017), and at the Center for Natural and Human Sciences, Federal University of ABC (2018). His research focuses on Extragalactic Astrophysics and Active Galactic Nuclei. He has published 38 articles in international peer-reviewed journals, including 14 as first author.
Talk 3 · 14:00 – 14:45
Simone Del Togno
How the Space Environment Shapes Scientific Instruments: New Frontiers, Diverse Worlds
Talk Description
The space environment is an exciting but hazardous playground for scientific discovery. The technical hurdles of developing instruments for spaceflight present stimulating challenges that often drive the design of very similar devices in completely different directions, depending on the unique characteristics of the mission target. This talk highlights how scientific instruments are engineered to survive and perform in the harsh realities of their operational environments. We will explore this through real-world examples from the frontiers of planetary exploration: Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter.
Speaker
Simone Del Togno is a space engineer at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), working within the Institute of Space Research, Department of Optoelectronic Sensor Systems. His current roles include Thermal and Radiation Engineer for the VenSpec-M spectrometer and System Engineer for the Central Control Unit (CCU) of the VenSpec suite — a key instrument package on ESA's EnVision mission to Venus.
Talk 4 · 14:45 – 15:30
Marco Furlan
QEMULA: A Virtual Environment for Aerospace Embedded Software Development
Talk Description
This talk presents QEMULA, a virtual environment developed by the NSEE at Instituto Mauá de Tecnologia to support the development and early validation of aerospace embedded software. Built on QEMU, QEMULA emulates the LEON3-based GR712RC platform and provides containerized control, SpaceWire data, and debugging interfaces. The presentation discusses how the environment supports iterative software testing before physical hardware is available, with applications related to the VenSpec-M instrument for ESA's EnVision mission. It also outlines the current architecture, implemented capabilities, and future work toward higher-fidelity validation.
Speaker
Marco Antonio Furlan de Souza is a professor and researcher in Computer Science and Software Engineering. He holds an M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of São Paulo (USP) and has extensive experience in higher education, teaching courses in software engineering, programming languages, embedded systems, operating systems, databases, and computational methods. His research interests include reusable software architectures, intelligent tutoring systems, multi-agent systems, and software for scientific instrumentation. He has contributed to international projects related to astronomical and space missions, including the Giant Magellan Telescope, ESA's PLATO and EnVision missions, and NASA's VERITAS mission.
Talk 5 · 15:30 – 16:15
Friederike Wolff
Spacecraft Design in Theory and Practice
Talk Description
Aerospace Engineer, 11 years of experience in planetary exploration missions. She has contributed to major missions including MASCOT, JUICE, and ESA’s EnVision, specializing in systems engineering, integration, and project management. From 2022 to 2026, she led the VenSpec consortium for EnVision and served as Principal Investigator for its Central Control Unit.
Speaker
Friederike studied Aerospace Engineering at TU Delft in the Netherlands as well as in Kiruna, Sweden. Since 2015 she has been supporting various planetary missions: she was responsible for the optimization of the mobility unit of the MASCOT asteroid lander aboard. She also supported the GALA laser altimeter on the same mission as AIT manager and oversaw the complex test campaign.
Talk 6 · 16:15 – 17:00
Rodrigo França
Talk Description
This talk presents the architecture and development of the VENSpec Simulator, a hardware-in-the-loop simulation platform developed for the ESA EnVision mission. Building on previous experience with the PLATO SimuCam, the new platform introduces a modular multi-core architecture that isolates independent simulation entities while sharing common control and communication resources. The presentation will discuss its flexible hardware and software architecture, SpaceWire/PUS communication, reconfigurability, and the design choices that enable the platform to be adapted to different instruments, interfaces, and future simulation scenarios.
Speaker
Rodrigo de Marca França graduated in Electronic Engineering from Instituto Mauá de Tecnologia (2015) and earned a Master's degree in Systems Engineering from USP (2022), where he is currently pursuing a PhD in Systems Engineering. Since 2017, he has worked on embedded software and VHDL IP cores for space projects. He was the lead developer of SimuCam, ESA's camera emulator for the PLATO mission, and of the VenSpec Simulator for ESA's EnVision mission, which emulates the VenSpec spectrometer suite. His expertise includes hardware emulators and SpaceWire protocols. He is currently a professor and researcher at IMT, leading the development of hardware emulators for space projects at the Embedded Electronics Systems Center (NSEE/IMT).
October, 21st – Wednesday | Building W, 504
| Time | Session | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 09:00–12:00 |
Workshop: open to the Public — Part 1 LIMITED SEATS AVAILABLE |
How to build a spacecraft: an immersive engineering workshop based on the EnVision Mission to Venus How to build a spacecraft is an interactive workshop that introduces students to the multidisciplinary challenges of designing, building and operating a real space mission. Using ESA’s EnVision mission to Venus as a case study, participants work with actual engineering data to solve realistic problems based on actual mission parameters. In this workshop, students take on different roles, like Mission Scientist, Instrument Engineer, or Flight Dynamics, and have to collaborate with each other as they progress through different mission phases. Students will learn how to selecting a suitable rocket configuration and launch window, derive instrument requirements from scientific objectives, estimate delta-V and power budgets, select observation regions, and plan spacecraft operations. |
| 12:00–13:30 | Lunch Break | — |
| 13:30–16:30 |
Workshop: open to the Public — Part 2 LIMITED SEATS AVAILABLE |
How to build a spacecraft: an immersive engineering workshop based on the EnVision Mission to Venus How to build a spacecraft is an interactive workshop that introduces students to the multidisciplinary challenges of designing, building and operating a real space mission. Using ESA’s EnVision mission to Venus as a case study, participants work with actual engineering data to solve realistic problems based on actual mission parameters. In this workshop, students take on different roles, like Mission Scientist, Instrument Engineer, or Flight Dynamics, and have to collaborate with each other as they progress through different mission phases. Students will learn how to selecting a suitable rocket configuration and launch window, derive instrument requirements from scientific objectives, estimate delta-V and power budgets, select observation regions, and plan spacecraft operations. |