IAC 2025 in Sydney: a recap

The International Astronautical Congress (IAC) concluded last week in Sydney, and it’s time to make a recap of the event.

This year, the Space Debris Group participated with a delegation of four members, composed by Lorenzo Olivieri, Stefano Lopresti, Nicolò Trabacchin and Alberto Abiti. The congress always represents a key moment to share the group’s annual research activities with the scientific community, and this year was no exception. The team contributed with a total of three oral presentations and two interactive presentations, as well as co-autorship in three additional papers.

The presented work covered a wide range of topics related to space debris: from the development of analytical models for area-to-mass and velocity distributions of fragments, and the simulation of the Intelsat 33E fragmentation event, to the design of an innovative space debris sensor for CubeSats and a space-based constellation dedicated to the detection and tracking of both active and passive objects in lunar orbits.

The event represented also a great opportunity to strengthen existing collaborations and establish new connections with other research groups and industry partners, paving the way for future joint projects.

We wrapped up this year’s event in the best possible way and can’t wait to meet everyone again at IAC 2026 in Antalya!