Manel Caballero-Pérez

I am a Ph.D. candidate in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California, Irvine, under the supervision of Professor Manuel Gamero-Castaño.

My research focuses on electrosprays for space propulsion, combining both experimental and theoretical work. I have found a method improve the specific impulse in capillary electrosprays by a large factor, and I am currently developing methods to predict the performance of ionic liquid electrosprays using ion field emission and neutral evaporation models. 

I’m now shifting my focus toward guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) and orbital mechanics. I’m developing Pytellite.org, an open-source satellite dynamics and control simulator with 3D visualization. Pytellite makes it easy to prototype and iterate control laws, build intuition for attitude and orbital dynamics, and test estimation algorithms (MEKF) with software-in-the-loop (SITL) using realistic sensor models.

Prior to joining UCI, I graduated from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya with a B.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering. During that time, I co-founded Cosmic Research, a student team that designs and manufactures sounding rockets. I led the development of a 10 kN solid rocket motor and several smaller motors. I also authored a free, 10-hour course on the design of sounding rockets, focusing on aerodynamics and stability.

In 2019 and 2020, I interned at the European Space Agency (ESA), working on plasma thrusters, and briefly worked at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), where I was involved in mission analysis and trajectory design.