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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

TechTalks

TechTalks - EIC Programme Manager Stella Tkatchova

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Outreach activities

  1. 21 April 2023
    Baltic Session on the EIC Pathfinder and Transition Challenges - Riga, LV
  2. 20 April 2023
    Luxembourg Space Resource Week - Luxembourg
  3. 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
  4. 23 March 2023
    EuCAP 2023 - 17th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation - Florence, IT
  5. 26 January 2023
    EIC Space Challenge Info Day
  6. 7- 8 December 2022
    EIC Summit, Brussels (BE)
  7. 15 - 17 November 2022
    SpaceTech Expo Europe - Bremen, DE
  8. 8 - 10 November 2022
    MELiSSA Conference – Toulouse, FR
  9. 24 & 25 October 2022
    European Space Forum 2022
    • View full agenda and list of speakers here 
  10. 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
  11. 3 - 6 October 2022
    EU Space Week - Prague, CZ
  12. 28 - 29 September 2022
    Industry Space Days - Noordwjik, NL
  13. 22 - 27 September 2022
    EIC Challenges Workshop with Member States
    • Organised by the Programme Managers' Office 
    • Individual reports and Power Point presentations available here
  14. 18 - 23 September 2022
    International Astronautical Congress (IAC) - Paris, FR
  15. 15 - 16 September 2022
    Space Cost Engineering - ESTEC, Noordwijk, NL
  16. 27 - 28 June 2022
    MAP WHISKIES meeting - Noordwjik, NL
  17. 15 - 18 June 2022
    VivaTech Conference - Paris, FR
  18. 14 June 2022
    EXPANDEO & FIRE FORUM 2022 - Round Table "Market Development Activities – future R&D" – Brussels, BE
  19. 1 June 2022
    EUSPA Entrepreneurship Day - Prague, CZ
  20. 13 May 2022
    EIC and ESA Workshop “Challenges for Circular Economy & Sustainable Living in Space and on Earth” (online)
  21. 27 April 2022
    EIC and EUSPA Workshop "EIC Opportunities for space SMEs" (online)
  22. 28 March 2022
    EUSPA Workshop on FIN capacity building “Infrastructure lifecycle support from space” - Prague, CZ