Politecnico di Milano Aerospace

The Department of Aerospace Science and Technology (DAER — Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Aerospaziali) at Politecnico di Milano in Milan, Italy is one of Europe's leading aerospace engineering research institutions, operating within one of the continent's most highly ranked technical universities. PoliMi Aerospace conducts research spanning spacecraft dynamics and attitude control, orbital mechanics, space propulsion, remote sensing, and aerodynamics, with strong collaborative ties to ESA — many faculty serve on ESA Science Programme advisory committees and the university participates in ESA's BIC (Business Incubation Centre) program supporting aerospace startups. Research contributions include trajectory analysis for the BepiColombo Mercury mission, aerobraking studies for Mars missions, and development of advanced orbit determination techniques. The student team PoliSpace has built and launched CubeSats gaining hands-on experience with the complete satellite development cycle. The department hosts ESA-funded chairs and training programs and receives substantial funding from the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and national research council (CNR). Alumni hold senior engineering and scientific roles at ASI, Thales Alenia Space Italy (Turin), OHB Italia, Leonardo, and ESA establishments in Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain.