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About

Eicke-Alexander Risse is a aerospace engineer and researcher at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), specializing in spacecraft rendezvous and docking systems, on-orbit servicing, and advanced space avionics. His work sits at the cutting edge of autonomous space operations, addressing one of the field's most pressing challenges: enabling spacecraft to safely approach, inspect, and service both cooperative and uncooperative targets in orbit. Risse's most influential contribution is his work on the European Proximity Operations Simulator (EPOS) 2.0, a state-of-the-art robotic test facility at GSOC in Oberpfaffenhofen that has become a cornerstone reference for rendezvous and docking simulation research, accumulating 33 citations. He has also contributed meaningfully to autonomous GNC (Guidance, Navigation, and Control) systems for orbital servicing of uncooperative targets — a critical capability for space debris removal — and led development of the RICADOS system, an integrated platform for rendezvous, inspection, capturing, and detumbling operations. His work on ScOSA further demonstrates his breadth, tackling the computational limitations of space-qualified hardware through scalable avionics architectures. For students pursuing careers in space robotics or on-orbit servicing, Risse's publications offer essential technical foundations from one of Europe's leading space research institutions.