Autonomous Space Ops - Astrodynamics - Machine Learning

Daniel Huterer Prats

PhD student in Aerospace Engineering at CU Boulder AVS Lab, building autonomous scheduling and inspection systems for spacecraft operations under real mission constraints.

My work combines reinforcement learning, orbital mechanics, and safety-aware planning to support scalable on-orbit decision-making for surveillance, servicing, and exploration missions.

Boulder, CO

Autonomous Space Ops Reinforcement Learning Astrodynamics Safety-Critical Planning
Research Highlights Publications About Me
Download CV Request CV via Email

Latest

Most recent conference activity and preview media.

YouTube thumbnail for AAS GN&C 2026 talk
AAS GN&C 2026

LEO-to-Any Autonomous Imaging Scheduling

Latest public update: autonomous space-based imaging with reinforcement-learning scheduling under downlink latency and onboard resource constraints, presented at the AAS Rocky Mountain GN&C Conference.

Paper PDF Conference Program Talk Video

Work

Chronological path across research and industry. Scroll to reveal each step; organization names link to official pages.

  • Aug 2024+

    Autonomous Vehicle Systems Lab Graduate Research Assistant - Boulder, CO - Aug 2024 to Present

    Developing Basilisk RL environments for LEO-to-space surveillance and autonomous scheduling with strict safety and illumination constraints.

  • Aug 2024

    Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics GNC Engineer - Boulder, CO - Aug 2024 to Jan 2025

    Simulated open/closed-loop maneuvers for the Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt and ran Monte Carlo analyses for gravity-assist and flyby scenarios.

  • Jan 2024

    Infinite Orbits Systems Engineer and Project Coordinator - Toulouse, France - Jan 2024 to Aug 2024

    Led systems engineering and project coordination for a European Commission OTV consortium, including rendezvous and docking safety concepts.

  • Aug 2023

    ALTEN Aerospace Consultant - Toulouse, France - Aug 2023 to Jan 2024

    Owned ESSP FastMon updates and GNSS monitoring pipelines, and contributed to aerodynamics optimization work for Olympic track cycling.

  • Sep 2022

    UPC Space Systems Lead + Astrodynamics Research - Barcelona, Spain - Sep 2022 to Jul 2023

    Led wildfire-tracking mission design and developed a multi-gravity-assist optimization tool balancing transfer delta-v and arrival time.

  • Jun 2021

    NYU Abu Dhabi Lead Project Engineer / Summer Research Assistant - Abu Dhabi, UAE - Jun 2021 to Aug 2022

    Led high-power rocketry development and built ML-ready planetary-science data pipelines for atmospheric opacity and temperature-pressure modeling.

  • May 2019

    NYUAD Galaxy Formation Group Undergraduate Research Assistant - Abu Dhabi, UAE - May 2019 to Jun 2023

    Analyzed NIHAO galaxy simulations and tidal stripping effects to study dark matter and baryonic structure evolution across dwarf galaxies.

Selected Projects and Papers

Highlighted conference papers and core projects, with expandable previews for selected works.

AMOS 2025 presentation photo
AMOS 2025 • Conference

RL for LEO-to-LEO Space-to-Space Imaging

Actor-critic scheduling for autonomous imaging in LEO under downlink latency, LOS, power, storage, and pointing constraints.

Project Page Paper PDF Talk Video
LEO-to-any space-to-space imaging concept art
AAS GN&C 2026 • Conference

RL for LEO-to-Any Space-to-Space Imaging

Extends autonomous imaging beyond same-regime targeting with resource-aware actions and latency-aware downlink behavior.

Paper PDF Conference Program Talk Video
Two colliding galaxies
Journal (MNRAS)

Dark Matter and Galaxy Formation

Co-authored work on how tidal interactions can produce dark-matter-deficient galaxies in realistic cosmological contexts.

Preview and links

This study connects simulated tidal stripping dynamics with observed low dark-matter signatures in dwarf galaxies.

Dark matter paper preview
Paper PDF ADS Abstract
Spacecraft flyby around Jupiter
Trajectory Design

Multi-Gravity Assist Optimization

Evolutionary trajectory design for gravity-assist sequences, trading transfer time against total delta-v.

Preview and links

The optimization pipeline orders planetary flybys and timing windows to discover efficient and non-intuitive interplanetary transfers.

MGA trajectory paper preview plot
Paper PDF
Moon and Mars water purification concept visual
Systems Study

Moon and Mars Water Purification

Comparative architecture study for extraction and purification of subsurface water under planetary constraints.

Preview and links

Evaluates purification chains and energy-resource tradeoffs for sustained lunar and Martian in-situ operations.

Moon and Mars water purification paper preview
Paper PDF

Mission Control and Space Highlights

Live ISS orbital context with global journey city markers, plus a weekly space image feed.

ISS Live Mission Control

Interactive 3D-style globe with live ISS motion, real telemetry, and pins for Boulder plus places where you've lived, studied, and worked.

🟢 Above horizon from a tracked city ⚪ Not in range right now 🟣 Your temporary custom location

Above-horizon now from tracked cities: --

Live Stats

Latitude--

Longitude--

Altitude--

Velocity--

Updated--

Refresh~4s

Next Boulder pass: loading... Official alerts
Check Your City

Curious about ISS visibility from your location?

Type a city name, or use City, Country for ambiguous places (for example: London, UK).

Enter a location to check current visibility and the next viewing window.

Space Image of the Week

Automatically refreshed from NASA APOD, with a local fallback visual when APIs are unavailable.

Space image of the week
Loading NASA APOD...

Loading title...

View on NASA APOD