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Dante Galli, Today’s Space Pro

Can you share your journey and background that led you to become the Space Rider Programme Manager at the European Space Agency (ESA)?

As a kid, always dreamt about being an astronaut. It turned out that I was close finally, but still not enough! I Graduated in Aerospace Engineering at Rome University La Sapienza and started working as thermo-structural engineer consultant for Thales Alenia Space (just Alenia, at the time), working on Radarsat-2 programme.

I moved then in 2003 on the VEGA project at AVIO, as Product Engineer responsible for the AVUM 4th stage AIT and since then working on space transportation, with different roles.

The VEGA launcher will play a significant role in launching Space Rider missions. Could you provide insights into how the VEGA launcher contributes to the success of the program?

In the Space Rider mission, the VEGA-C launcher not only contributes delivering the payload to orbit as any standard launcher would do, but it actually devotes its AVUM (Attitude Vernier upper Module) forth stage, specifically modified and tagged as AOM (AVUM Orbital Module), to support the Space Rider orbital and re-entry mission phases, when AOM guarantees power generation, attitude and orbit control to the Space Rider RM (Re-entry Module), which together form the SR (Space Rider) Spacecraft.

Can you share a memorable or challenging moment from your experience as the Space Rider Programme Manager?

Well, I ‘d like to think the many ones yet to come, as we are now fully into the Phase-D of the programme, meaning the manufacturing, testing and validation phase – definitively an interesting one after years of design phase and facing so many challenges and complex analyses.

Recently, I`d like to mention the successfully completed first System Validation Tests (SVTs), which aim to validate the interfaces between the ground and flight segment elements. This happened just end of last year, with a joint effort from teams from Telespazio, Altec and Thales Alenia Space. All tests were completed successfully and flawlessly. While this is only the first of many SVT campaigns to come, the successful completion of this initial testing gets Space Rider one step closer to inaugural flight and I also had the opportunity to witness a truly inspiring team work and spirit, that was a pretty good way to conclude the year and prepare for the next to come!

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