MSCA Doctoral Researcher - E-Sailors - Implementation E-sail Simulation Fidelity

DICI - Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering

Organisation/Company University of Pisa Department DICI - Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering Research Field Engineering » Aerospace engineering Engineering » Industrial engineering Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions PhD Positions Country Italy Final date to receive applications 31 Jan 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Rome) Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 40 Offer Starting Date 1 May 2026 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Horizon Europe - MSCA Marie Curie Grant Agreement Number  Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Host Institution

University of Pisa

Supervisory Team:

Supervisor:
Dr. Lorenzo Niccolai (University of Pisa)
Co-supervisors:
Dr. Marco Bassetto (University of Pisa), Prof. Giovanni Mengali (University of Pisa), Dr. Aditya Savio Paul (University of Tartu)

36 months

Secondment:

University of Tartu (6 months)

31/01/2025 at 23:59 CET

About E-Sailors

The Electric solar wind Sail doctors (E-Sailors) is a challenge-based Doctoral Network that aims to bring Electric solar wind sail (E-sail) from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) demonstration missions to the operational environment of the solar wind. It is delivered by 8 universities in cooperation with FMI, where E-sail was invented, and 4 companies. E-sail is a highly innovative and potentially disruptive propellantless propulsion system.

An operational E-sail consists of hair-thin and kilometres-long wires, or tethers, which are charged at a high voltage creating an electrostatic sheath (electric sail) that deflects solar wind particles and generates the propulsive effect in interplanetary environment. Successful and rapid development and deployment of the technology will ensure EU's leadership in the exploration and exploitation of deep space, the next commercial space frontier.

The programme is designed to achieve the following training objectives for our doctoral candidates:
1) equip them with core scientific skills and specialised knowledge in designing experiments for demonstrating space technologies and developing space missions;
2) provide them with a wide range of transferrable skills, such as Open Science and FAIR, communicating science to public, advocacy, networking etc.;
3) develop their business and entrepreneurship skills, such as IPR management, preliminary business planning, pitching to investors, starting start-ups.

E-Sailor 13’s activity focuses on developing a multi-fidelity orbital propagator for E-sail spacecraft. The model is based on thrust-per-unit-length estimates derived from Particle-in-Cell (PIC) simulations. It will incorporate the E-sail’s nominal spin plane orientation into the thrust vector generation, requiring close collaboration with E-Sailor 14 (enrolled at the University of Tartu), who specialises in E-sail spin plane and rate control. The propagator will feature multiple fidelity levels: lower-fidelity configurations will support general trajectory design and mission-level trade studies, while higher-fidelity models will be utilised for precise operations, such as maneuvering and rendezvous.

E-Sailor 13 will integrate these fidelity levels into the Electric Sail Mission Expeditor (ESME) simulation tool, combining the advanced trajectory modelling with ESME’s high-fidelity Coulomb drag simulation. This integration is crucial for enabling the design and analysis of complete, end-to-end E-sail missions. Within the broader E-Sailors DN project, E-Sailor 13 will aim to enhance ESME’s versatility by developing new functionalities for local E-sail control (with E-Sailor 14), creating an interface to export attitude-thrust vectors for industry-standard software, and implementing a library of pre-calculated E-sail trajectories.

• Undertake innovative and independent research in terms of developing new concepts or improving existing methodologies.
• Carry out literature review, hypothesis development, and experimental design.
• Adapt, develop and learn new tools, software, and methodologies independently.
• Present and publish research in both academic…