DGLR Virtual International Group (VIG) Online-Seminar
Monday, 25th March 2026, 18:00 CET

Students’ First Step into Space: Opportunities through the ESA Academy Experiments programme

Speaker: Laura Borella

This presentation provides an overview of what the ESA, in particular the ESA Academy Experiments programme, offers to students working on projects that require testing under altered‑gravity conditions. It outlines how the programme supports teams through hands‑on project development, access to ESA facilities, expert guidance, and opportunities to prepare experiments for platforms such as parabolic flights, the Orbital Robotics Laboratory, Space Rider, and the ISS. The aim is to give a clear picture of the resources, processes, and learning pathways available to students participating in ESA Academy activities.

Laura Borella is a work package manager at SES supporting the ESA Academy Experiments Programme at ESEC (BE), where she coordinates university‑led space experiments across platforms such as parabolic flights, the Orbital Robotics Laboratory, Space Rider, and the ISS. In this role, she oversees scientific, technical, operational, and contractual activities while working closely with ESA directorates, industry partners, and academic teams. During her PhD at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, she served in the Science Operations Core Team for the Emirates Lunar Mission, supporting the mission’s scientific objectives and rover operations while co‑leading an international consortium. She also worked at the DLR Institute of Space Systems as a research scientist and consultant on planetary‑mission instrumentation for the MMX rover, gravity‑sensing technologies, and validation campaigns—work that resulted in two patent submissions.

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