"If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants"

— Isaac Newton

Faculty

Sandeep K. Singh

Director, ASCLab · Assistant Professor, Aerospace Engineering · MANE · Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Prof. Singh's research advances cislunar Space Domain Awareness (SDA), multi-body astrodynamics, stochastic trajectory optimization, reduced-order modeling, and sensor fusion for autonomous planetary surface operations. He serves on the AIAA Astrodynamics Technical Committee and as RPI's USRA representative.

AIAA Astrodynamics TC USRA Representative

(518) 276-2625 · sandes5@rpi.edu · JEC 2040

PhD Researchers

In Progress

Kevin Alvarado

PhD Student · Fall '22 – Present

Kevin Alvarado

Research Interests

Astrodynamics, GN&C, and Mission Design. CR3BP trajectory design, low-thrust transfers with manifold seeding, reduced-order modal analysis for RSO maneuver detection.

NASA NYSG Fellow 2024
Ickbum Kim

PhD Student · Fall '22 – Present

Ickbum Kim

Research Interests

Real-time Sensor Fusion, 3D Reconstruction, and Object Tracking. Multi-modal deep learning for terrain-relative navigation, GP point cloud denoising, Bayesian LiDAR-stereo fusion.

Internship: Magna International · Sp'26
Scott Blender

PhD Student · Fall '24 – Present

Scott Blender

Research Interests

ML for Space Mission Design, Autonomous GN&C, and Space Domain Awareness. Navigation-error-aware deep learning guidance for low-thrust cislunar transfers.

Internship: AstronetX · Su'26
Donald Perpetua

PhD Student · Fall '26 – Present

Donald Perpetua

Research Interests

Space Domain Awareness, Low-Thrust Optimization, and Maneuver Estimation.

Masters Students

In Progress

Tasmay Shah

M.Eng. · Spring '26 – Spring '27

Tasmay Shah

Quasi-Periodic Invariant Tori and Applicability to Constellation Reconfiguration.

Graduated

Nathan Nguyen

M.Eng. · Sp'25 & Sp'26

Nathan Nguyen

Navigation Filter Design for Multi-Modal Deep Learning TRN at the Lunar South Pole.

Currently: Orion GNC Engineer, NASA JSC

Joseph Mergen

M.S. · F'25 – Sp'26

Joseph Mergen

A Systemic Approach to Cislunar SDA: Improved Fidelity, Adaptability, and Geometry.

Currently: Satellite Systems Engineer in Operations, Lockheed Martin

Ryan Rebetti

M.Eng. · F'25 – Sp'26

Ryan Rebetti

Filtering Methods for Multi-Observer State Estimation in the Earth-Moon CR3BP.

Currently: Systems Engineer II, GNC, Raytheon

Ashe Mlodzienski

M.Eng. · F'25 – Sp'26

Ashe Mlodzienski

Data-Driven Characterization of Low-Thrust Gravity Assist Maneuvers.

William Weigand

M.Eng. · F'25 – Sp'26

William Weigand

FIM Optimization of Observer Constellations for Cislunar Space Domain Awareness.

Alex Diehl

M.Eng. · F'24 – Sp'25

Alex Diehl

Non-Spherical Secondary Augmented CR3BP dynamics and effects on periodic orbit families.

Calvin Chan

M.Eng. · F'24 – Sp'25

Calvin Chan

Hybrid Optimization for Constellation Design: Tracking RSO Behaviors in Cislunar Space.

Currently: GNC Aerospace Engineer, Vantor

Angelina Shayda

M.Eng. · F'24 – Sp'25

Angelina Shayda

Leveraging Manifold Dynamics for Near-Heteroclinic Impulsive Transfers in Cislunar Space.

Currently: Mechanical Engineer, Axiom Space

Undergraduate Researchers

In Progress

Aidan Stewart

URP · Su'26

Aidan Stewart

Full Maneuver Characterization and Estimation in the CR3BP.

Ava Hodorowski

URP · Su'26

Ava Hodorowski

Improved Synthetic Lunar Terrain Model for SDA Sensor Placement.

Tevin McLaren

URP · Su'26

Tevin McLaren

Attitude Estimation of Irregularly Shaped Debris for Removal.

Katherine Henry

Visiting Researcher · Su'26

Katherine Henry

Characterizing Adversarial Attrition Rate for Periodic Orbit Families.

Graduated

Hadley Earl

URP · F'24, S'25, Su'25

Hadley Earl

Dynamics Reconstruction using Mode Decomposition for the three-body problem.

Aileen McAllister

URP · Su'25, F'25

Aileen McAllister

Bi-Circular 4 Body Problem Periodic and Quasi-Periodic Structures.

Robert Quevedo

URP · Su'24, F'24

Robert Quevedo

Gravity Field Quantification of Non-Spherical Space Objects.

Benjamin Seaman

URP · F'23, S'24

Benjamin Seaman

Extremal Bundles and Low-Thrust Reachability.

Tom Deng

URP · S'24

Tom Deng

Stereo-Camera Calibration.

Tony Kwon

URP · F'23

Tony Kwon

Thermal-Optical Camera Calibration.