Vaios Lappas
Professor, Department of Aerospace Science & Technology, University of Athens
Professor V. Lappas graduated with a B. Eng in Aerospace Engineering at Ryerson University (Toronto, Canada), his MSc in Space Technology at NASA (Goddard Space Flight Centre) through the International Space University (France) and his PhD in Space Vehicle Control at the University of Surrey (UK). He has led various significant research grants on satellite technology, space missions, space debris, funded by the United States Air Force, NASA, Airbus, European Space Agency, European Commission. He has managed substantial research grants including the EU funded QB50, RemoveDEBRIS space missions and the European Defence Agency EuroSWARM project which is one of Europe’s first Defence R&D pilot projects. He is currently Professor of Aerospace Systems and Department Head at the Department of Aerospace Science & Technology of the University of Athens (Greece) and a Consulting Professor in Aerospace Systems at Cranfield University (UK). His current research includes development of unmanned vehicles for defence applications, satellite/space systems, launch vehicle design, small satellites funded by the EU, United States Air Force and European Space Agency. He also teaches Flight Controls, Dynamics and Satellite Communications at Cranfield University and supervises MSc student projects and PhD researchers for the MSc in Astronautics/Space and Autonomous systems (AVDC). He currently is the PI of the ERMIS nanosatellite constellation, a constellation of 3 small cubesats to be launched in January 2026 focused on hyperspectral imaging, laser optical links and IoT communications funded by the Greek Ministry of Digital Governance and the European Space Agency. He is a world authority in small satellites, UAVs, autonomous systems and is in “Stanford’s World’s Top 2% Scientists List” for the subject of Aerospace.