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European Innovation Council

Stella Tkatchova

Stella Tkatchova

Biography

EIC Programme Manager for Space systems & technologies

Stella’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

 

EIC Accelerator Challenge 2025

Innovative in-space servicing, operations, robotics & technologies for resilient EU space infra

 

Outreach activities

  1. 15 October 2024
    75th International Astronautical Congress 2024 EU booth, Milano, Italy
    • Presentation of paper "Deep-tech Space-earth synergies for future cis-lunar exploration and terrestrial applications”
    • More information here
  2. 8 October 2024
    ESA Clean Space Days, ESTEC, The Netherlands
    • More information here
  3. 3 October 2024
    SCEC 2024, Toulouse, France
    • More information here
  4. 18 September 2024
    ESA Industry Space Days, "Leveraging public-public and public private collaboration to support space commercialization and financing“, Noordwijk, Netherlands
    • More information here
  5. 27 June 2024
    Space Atelier, Toulouse France: Presented 2024 Pathfinder Challenge & Space Investors Event with CNES Spacely Investors Club
  6. 25 June 2024
    Les assises de Newspace, invited speaker to the panel “European Initiatives to support new entrants”, Paris, France
  7. 25 June 2024
    EU Space Forum, Session 6 ‘Greening the Space Sector - Exploring Technology and Policy Solutions, Brussels, Belgium
    • More information here
  8. 7 June 2024
    The Newspace Summit, Lisbon, Portugal
    • More information here
  9. 22 May 2024
    Leveraging Success in International Markets, a must for European Space Companies and Investors, Vienna, Austria
    • More information here
       
  10. 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
  11. 27 March 2024
    Space Resource Week - Luxembourg
    • Invited speaker to the Opportunities to Growth session
    • See the full programme here
  12. 5 March 2024
    HSF 2024 - Cannes, France
    • Keynote Speaker at Panel 10: Advances in Space Access, Infrastructure and Return-2
    • More information available here
  13. 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
  14. 19 January 2024
    Space 4 Inspiration - Noordwijk, The Netherlands
    • Invited speaker for the investment opportunity session
    • See the full programme here
  15. 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
  16. 16 November 2023
    Space Tech Expo Europe
    • More information available here
  17. 19 October 2023
    NAFSKI 2023
    • More information available here
  18. 9 October 2023
    ESA International (On-line) Conference on Energy from Space
  19. 11 September 2023
    Commercial Space Days - Luzern, Switzerland
    • Speaker at the (online) session Acceleration & Market dynamics
    • More information available here
  20. 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 
  21. 30 August 2023
    ESA MAP WHISKIES Meeting - Noordwijk, The Netherlands
    • Online presentation
  22. 7 July 2023
    PVSPACE | Photovoltaic for Space - Rome, Italy
    • Online presentation
    • More information available here
  23. 27 June 2023
    Cassini Entrepreneurship Days, EUSPA - Prague, Czech Republic
  24. 16 May 2023
    Space Meetings Veneto 2023 - Venice, Italy
    • Session on Building Cleaner Space 
    • More information available here
  25. 21 April 2023
    Baltic Session on the EIC Pathfinder and Transition Challenges - Riga, LV
  26. 20 April 2023
    Luxembourg Space Resource Week - Luxembourg
  27. 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
  28. 23 March 2023
    EuCAP 2023 - 17th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation - Florence, IT
  29. 26 January 2023
    EIC Space Challenge Info Day
  30. 7- 8 December 2022
    EIC Summit, Brussels (BE)
  31. 15 - 17 November 2022
    SpaceTech Expo Europe - Bremen, DE
  32. 8 - 10 November 2022
    MELiSSA Conference – Toulouse, FR
  33. 24 & 25 October 2022
    European Space Forum 2022
    • View full agenda and list of speakers here 
  34. 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
  35. 3 - 6 October 2022
    EU Space Week - Prague, CZ
  36. 28 - 29 September 2022
    Industry Space Days - Noordwjik, NL
  37. 22 - 27 September 2022
    EIC Challenges Workshop with Member States
    • Organised by the Programme Managers' Office 
    • Individual reports and Power Point presentations available here
  38. 18 - 23 September 2022
    International Astronautical Congress (IAC) - Paris, FR
  39. 15 - 16 September 2022
    Space Cost Engineering - ESTEC, Noordwijk, NL
  40. 27 - 28 June 2022
    MAP WHISKIES meeting - Noordwjik, NL
  41. 15 - 18 June 2022
    VivaTech Conference - Paris, FR
  42. 14 June 2022
    EXPANDEO & FIRE FORUM 2022 - Round Table "Market Development Activities – future R&D" – Brussels, BE
  43. 1 June 2022
    EUSPA Entrepreneurship Day - Prague, CZ
  44. 13 May 2022
    EIC and ESA Workshop “Challenges for Circular Economy & Sustainable Living in Space and on Earth” (online)
  45. 27 April 2022
    EIC and EUSPA Workshop "EIC Opportunities for space SMEs" (online)
  46. 28 March 2022
    EUSPA Workshop on FIN capacity building “Infrastructure lifecycle support from space” - Prague, CZ