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European Innovation Council

Stela Tkatchova

Stella Tkatchova

Biography

EIC Programme Manager for Space systems & technologies

Stela’s expertise is in the commercialization of space technologies. Previously she worked as a commercialization and project manager in the European space industry, managing a number of projects in the telecommunications (e.g. ESA ARTES INDIGO public private partnership, GOVSATCOM, O3B) and Earth observation (e.g. Copernicus Sentinel 1 and Sentinel 3) domains. Her expertise also includes managing and reviewing R&I exploratory projects in the aviation industry for the European Commission. As a commercialization manager, she co-founded a company and helped several SMEs and start-ups grow in the Newspace industry. Earlier in her career, she worked at ESA’s European Space and Technology Centre (ESTEC) on the EU Galileo and the International Space Station (ISS) programs.

She was awarded a PhD by the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering of TU-Delft, The Netherlands and a Master of Space Studies from the International Space University (ISU), Strasbourg, France. She has written numerous articles, books, produced webinars and podcasts on problems related to the commercialization of space technology, the Newspace economy, space debris mitigation, on-orbit servicing, active debris removal and cis-lunar exploration. Her recent scholarly interest is focused on the future evolution of technology innovations for space debris mitigation, on-orbit satellite servicing and active space debris removal services. She is the founder and former editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Space Technology Management & Innovation (IJSTMI). 

Start date:  March 2022

TechTalks

TechTalks - EIC Programme Manager Stella Tkatchova

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Outreach activities

  1. 18-19 April 2024
    International Conference on Energy from Space 2024 - London, UK
    • Moderator of the session Safety & Security
    • Keynote speaker
    • More information and the full programme available here
  2. 27 March 2024
    Space Resource Week - Luxembourg
    • Invited speaker to the Opportunities to Growth session
    • See the full programme here
  3. 5 March 2024
    HSF 2024 - Cannes, France
    • Keynote Speaker at Panel 10: Advances in Space Access, Infrastructure and Return-2
    • More information available here
  4. 29 January 2024
    EIC Info Day in Sofia, Bulgaria
    • Inspiration speech Deep tech – solving business or societal problems by companies, utilizing applied research results: view from an EIC Programme Manager
    • Presentation of the EIC space related research in the context of the EIC Space Challenge and portfolio
    • More information available here
  5. 19 January 2024
    Space 4 Inspiration - Noordwijk, The Netherlands
    • Invited speaker for the investment opportunity session
    • See the full programme here
  6. 8 December 2023
    EU-Japan Space Webinar
    • The EIC PM's office organized a webinar for the EIC space portfolio to promote innovation in the space sector.
    • The webinar was organized in collaboration with the EU-Japan center for industrial cooperation
      • For more information regarding the content of the event, click here
  7. 16 November 2023
    Space Tech Expo Europe
    • More information available here
  8. 19 October 2023
    NAFSKI 2023
    • More information available here
  9. 9 October 2023
    ESA International (On-line) Conference on Energy from Space
  10. 11 September 2023
    Commercial Space Days - Luzern, Switzerland
    • Speaker at the (online) session Acceleration & Market dynamics
    • More information available here
  11. 7 September 2023
    11th IEEE International Conference on Wireless for Space and Extreme Environments
    • Invited speaker Disruptive innovation opportunities for funding research for In Space Solar Energy Harvesting for innovative space applications
    • More information available here 
  12. 30 August 2023
    ESA MAP WHISKIES Meeting - Noordwijk, The Netherlands
    • Online presentation
  13. 7 July 2023
    PVSPACE | Photovoltaic for Space - Rome, Italy
    • Online presentation
    • More information available here
  14. 27 June 2023
    Cassini Entrepreneurship Days, EUSPA - Prague, Czech Republic
  15. 16 May 2023
    Space Meetings Veneto 2023 - Venice, Italy
    • Session on Building Cleaner Space 
    • More information available here
  16. 21 April 2023
    Baltic Session on the EIC Pathfinder and Transition Challenges - Riga, LV
  17. 20 April 2023
    Luxembourg Space Resource Week - Luxembourg
  18. 14 April 2023
    Financing low-TRL breakthrough research in Space - Madrid, Spain
    • Organised by the Ministry of Science & Innovation of Spain
    • View full agenda here
  19. 23 March 2023
    EuCAP 2023 - 17th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation - Florence, IT
  20. 26 January 2023
    EIC Space Challenge Info Day
  21. 7- 8 December 2022
    EIC Summit, Brussels (BE)
  22. 15 - 17 November 2022
    SpaceTech Expo Europe - Bremen, DE
  23. 8 - 10 November 2022
    MELiSSA Conference – Toulouse, FR
  24. 24 & 25 October 2022
    European Space Forum 2022
    • View full agenda and list of speakers here 
  25. 5 October 2022
    EIC Podcast series: Episode 1 - Eliminating space debris with innovative technologies
    • EIC's podcast The game changers: from radical idea to innovative business 
      • Featuring Lorenzo Tarabini Castellani and Gonzalo Sanchez Arriaga of EIC Pathfinder project, E.T. PACK
        • Listen to the full episode here
  26. 3 - 6 October 2022
    EU Space Week - Prague, CZ
  27. 28 - 29 September 2022
    Industry Space Days - Noordwjik, NL
  28. 22 - 27 September 2022
    EIC Challenges Workshop with Member States
    • Organised by the Programme Managers' Office 
    • Individual reports and Power Point presentations available here
  29. 18 - 23 September 2022
    International Astronautical Congress (IAC) - Paris, FR
  30. 15 - 16 September 2022
    Space Cost Engineering - ESTEC, Noordwijk, NL
  31. 27 - 28 June 2022
    MAP WHISKIES meeting - Noordwjik, NL
  32. 15 - 18 June 2022
    VivaTech Conference - Paris, FR
  33. 14 June 2022
    EXPANDEO & FIRE FORUM 2022 - Round Table "Market Development Activities – future R&D" – Brussels, BE
  34. 1 June 2022
    EUSPA Entrepreneurship Day - Prague, CZ
  35. 13 May 2022
    EIC and ESA Workshop “Challenges for Circular Economy & Sustainable Living in Space and on Earth” (online)
  36. 27 April 2022
    EIC and EUSPA Workshop "EIC Opportunities for space SMEs" (online)
  37. 28 March 2022
    EUSPA Workshop on FIN capacity building “Infrastructure lifecycle support from space” - Prague, CZ