Josep Virgili-Llop
Papers
6
Total Citations
192
H-Index
6
About
Josep Virgili-Llop is a pioneering researcher at the intersection of spacecraft autonomy, orbital robotics, and space debris remediation. His work centers on developing advanced guidance and control algorithms for spacecraft equipped with robotic manipulators, with a particular focus on the challenging problem of capturing and detumbling uncooperative resident space objects (RSOs) — a critical capability for future active debris removal missions. Virgili-Llop's most influential contribution, his 2018 convex-programming-based guidance algorithm (68 citations), introduced a mathematically rigorous and computationally reliable framework for autonomously capturing tumbling orbital objects. By reformulating complex, non-convex trajectory optimization problems into solvable convex programming sequences, his approach offers the deterministic convergence properties essential for real-time onboard implementation. Complementing this theoretical work, he has conducted extensive laboratory validation experiments using spacecraft simulators on air-bearing test beds, bridging the gap between algorithm development and practical spaceflight application. His 2019 work on simultaneous capture and detumble (28 citations) further advanced the field by unifying two previously separate mission phases into a single elegant maneuver. Collectively accumulating nearly 200 citations, Virgili-Llop's research provides a foundational toolkit for the next generation of autonomous on-orbit servicing and debris removal missions.
Research Focus
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Top Papers
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