Dr. Pablo Ghiglino, CEO & Founder of Klepsydra Technologies, will be joining us for the Spring 2026 Aerospace Engineering Seminar Series on Friday, March 27, 2026. Please feel free to join for this talk. 

Topic: "AI for Smarter Satellites: From On-Orbit Experiements to Mission-Ready Software"

Abstract:

As space missions become more complex, satellites increasingly need to make decisions on their own. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is moving beyond processing images from space or supporting autonomous landing and navigation, and is now becoming essential for building truly intelligent spacecraft. Future satellites and constellations will rely on AI to manage power, control their attitude and orbit, and automatically detect and recover from failures—tasks that are difficult and costly to handle from the ground.

This work explores a practical way to run AI directly on space computers. Instead of relying on expensive specialized hardware, we focus on running AI efficiently on the types of radiation-hardened CPUs already used in many satellites. Through several activities funded by the European Space Agency, we demonstrate how the Klepsydra AI engine enables high-performance AI execution on space processors such as LEON and RISC-V systems. These developments bring us closer to a future where spacecraft can operate with much higher levels of autonomy.

Bio:

Over 20 years of software development experience in the finance industry. Earned a PhD in Aerospace Engineering at the Surrey Space Center, in the field of high-precision planetary landing. Founded Klepsydra in 2018 to apply advanced software and AI techniques from finance to space and embedded systems.