Personal profile
Opportunities
Research Projects
Postgraduate research topics currently available are listed on the following Research theme(s):
Other research
Research grants
Complete ListResearch interests
- Spacecraft systems engineering
- Satellite propulsion
- Constellation deployment
- Space Robotics
- Electrospray technology
- I welcome enquiries from anyone interested in studying for a PhD in these areas
Other research
Research themes and Research centers
Biography
Katharine graduated with a BEng(Hons) in Aerospace Engineering from Queen Mary University of London in 2000. She was then awarded an EPSRC studentship and went on complete her PhD research on the Characterisation of electrospray properties in high vacuum at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratories, which she received from the University of London in 2005. Katharine then worked as a post-doctoral research fellow in the Electrospray research group at Queen Mary University of London until sept 2008 when she was appointed as a Lecturer of Aerospace Engineering in the School of Engineering and Materials Science at Queen Mary. She took up a post as Lecturer in Aerospace Propulsion in UoM in Aug 2010. In December 2013 she became a fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA). Katharine was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2016 and Reader in 2021.
Katharine's research interests are centered on space systems engineering with a particular focus on nano-satellite systems, electric propulsion, space robotics and in situ resource utilisation.
Areas of expertise
- TL Motor vehicles. Aeronautics. Astronautics
- QC Physics
Research Beacons, Institutes and Platforms
- Aerospace Research Institute
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 4 Quality Education -
SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation -
SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy -
SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth -
SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure -
SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities -
SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities -
SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production -
SDG 13 Climate Action -
SDG 15 Life on Land -
SDG 17 Partnerships for the Goals
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- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Collision Risk from Performance Requirements in Earth Observation Mission Design
Mackintosh, J., Smith, K. & Mcgrath, C., 1 Mar 2026, In: Advances in Space Research. 77, 5, p. 5941-5961Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Development of a Design Tool for 3D Printable Cold Gas Thruster Systems for Nanosatellite Missions
Szyszka, M. & Smith, K., 1 Apr 2026, (Accepted/In press) Small Satellite Conference.Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review
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Efficiency metrics and numerical simulation procedure for atmosphere-breathing electric propulsion (ABEP) intake designs
Agir, M. B., Crisp, N., Smith, K., Roberts, P., Xiang, Z., Newsam, M. & Griffiths, M., 24 Jan 2026, In: Acta Astronautica.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
A Dynamic Analysis of Wheeled Jumping Robot for Lunar Exploration
Lo, J., Smith, K. S. A. U., Parslew, B., Roy, M., Joy, K. & Az Eldin, H., 1 Jan 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) International Astronautical Congress: 75th International Astronautical Congress (IAC), Milan, Italy, 14-18 October 2024.. International Astronautical Federation, IAF, p. 1535-1543 9 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review
Open AccessFile3 Downloads (Pure) -
A Numerical Investigation of the Effect of Flow Parameters and Wall Models on Gas-Surface Interactions in ABEP Applications
Agir, M. B., Crisp, N. H., Smith, K. S. A. U., Roberts, P., Newsam, M., Griffiths, M. & Vaidya, S., 2025, (Accepted/In press).Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
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CRADLE: CRADLE - Centre for Robotic Autonomy in Demanding and Long-lasting Environments
Fisher, M. (PI), Adorno, B. (CoI), Cangelosi, A. (CoI), Dennis, L. (CoI), Dixon, C. (CoI), Groves, K. (CoI), Lennox, B. (CoI), Watson, S. (CoI), Weightman, A. (CoI), Farrell, M. (CoI), Marinho, M. (CoI), Ladosz, P. (CoI), Wood, K. (CoI), Collins, E. (CoI), Smith, K. (CoI), Parslew, B. (CoI), Li, Z. (CoI), Clinch, S. (CoI), Baniqued, P. D. (Support team), Flint, S. (Support team), Khan, D. (Technical team), Tse, K. W. (Technical team), Atia, M. (Researcher), Song, Y. (Researcher), Leslie-Dalley, S. (PGR student), Bettles, J. (PGR student), Limarga, R. (Researcher), Zheng, S. (Researcher), Slusarz, N. (Researcher), Le, H. L. (PGR student), Tavella, F. (Researcher), Bolarinwa, J. (Researcher), Chi, X. (PGR student), Rolph, M. (PGR student), Saravanan, D. (PGR student), Abeywickrama, D. (Researcher), Rafiq, Y. (Researcher), Bishop, C. (Researcher), Khan, S. M. (Researcher), Wheelhouse, L. (PGR student), Morley, A. (PGR student), Greenhaus, Y. (PGR student), Arumugam, S. (PGR student) & Soboyejo, T. (PGR student)
1/09/23 → 31/08/28
Project: Research
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Aerospace Engineering
Smith, K. (PI), Filippone, A. (PI), Crisp, N. (PI), Mcgrath, C. (PI), Roberts, P. (PI), Hollingsworth, P. (PI), Utyuzhnikov, S. (PI), Nair, M. (Researcher), Parslew, B. (PI), Bojdo, N. (PI), Wood, K. (PI), Nabawy BSc, MSc, PhD, MRAeS, SMAIAA, FHEA, M. (PI), Zhong, S. (PI), Ladosz, P. (PI), Carew, T. (PI), Quinn, M. (PI), crowther, W. (PI), Ozer, O. (Technical team), Marsh, C. (Technical team), Kennaugh, A. (Technical team), Nadeem, J. (PGR student), Kent, B. (PGR student), Agir, M. B. (Researcher), Efimov, I. (Researcher), Wijacinski, K. (PGR student), Az Eldin, H. (PGR student), Malik, M. (PGR student), Lopez Pardo, B. (PGR student), Mackintosh, J. (PGR student), Yates, P. (Technical team), Muirhead, I. (PGR student), Treblow, S. (PGR student), Singh, K. (PGR student), Gurbuz, M. T. (PGR student) & Abdulla, M. A. (PGR student)
1/09/10 → 31/08/35
Project: Research
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Space at Manchester
Smith, K. (PI), Crisp, N. (PI), Roberts, P. (PI), Foster, T. (PI), Jeevendrampillai, D. (PI), Agir, M. B. (Researcher), Bourne, N. (CoI), Allmendinger, R. (CoI), Koehler, S. (CoI), Dresner, D. (CoI), Storchi, R. (CoI), Falkowska, M. (CoI), Peakman, A. (Affiliate), Quinn, M. (CoI), Hollingsworth, P. (CoI), Utyuzhnikov, S. (CoI), Modell, S. (CoI), Stappers, B. (CoI), Thornton, A. (CoI), Thomas, C. (CoI), Allen, A. (CoI), Farrell, M. (CoI), Browning, P. (Affiliate), Ryder, P. (PGR student), Garrett, M. (CoI), Marsh, L. (CoI), Li, Q. (CoI), Cobb, S. (CoI), Joy, K. (CoI), Piccirillo, L. (CoI), Fisher, M. (CoI), Harris, A. (CoI), Cowpe, J. (Technical team), Soutis, C. (Affiliate), Cocco, P. (Affiliate), Milosavljevic, N. (CoI), Turner, J. (CoI), Gautam, P. (PGR student), Allen, G. (CoI), Porumb, V.-A. (CoI), Bellamy, R. (CoI), Battye, R. (CoI), Rakhi, P. (CoI), Buckley, P. (CoI), Beswick, R. (CoI), Xiao, P. (CoI), Collins, E. (CoI), Dixon, C. (CoI), Pritchard, R. (CoI), Schultz, D. (CoI), Mingo, B. (CoI), Waller, L. (Researcher), Kotselidis, C.-E. (CoI), Snape, J. (CoI), Foster, T. (PI), Crowther, S. (CoI), De Bo, G. (CoI), Domingos, M. (CoI), Binks, D. (CoI), Mamman, J. (Researcher), Gaydecki, P. (CoI), Lawless, B. (Researcher), Lee, E. (CoI), Ebruka, N.-H. (PGR student), Lyon, I. (Affiliate), Da Conceicao Bispo, P. (CoI), Withers, P. (CoI), Currell, F. (CoI), Chernyavsky, I. (CoI), Bempong-Manful, E. (CoI), Mason, L. (PGR student), O'Brien, T. (CoI), Jones, E. (PGR student), Dennis, L. (CoI), Bull, P. (CoI), Parkes, B. (CoI), Gilmour, J. (CoI), Zhao, P. G. (CoI), Cimpan, I. (CoI), Gibson, M. (CoI), Smith, G. (CoI), Edmondson, S. (CoI), Conselice, C. (CoI), Barrett, E. (CoI), Garrington, S. (CoI), Coulson, B. (Researcher), Zhong, S. (CoI), Tartese, R. (CoI), Mcgrath, C. (CoI), Harish, A. (CoI), Sarov, A. (Technical team), Bradlaugh, A. (Researcher), McMorrow, J. M. (CoI), Brown, T. (CoI), Chluba, J. (CoI), Sutcliffe, S. (Researcher), Jones, R. (CoI), Thottungal Ravy, D. (Affiliate), Nair, M. (CoI) & Mcculloch, M. (CoI)
Project: Research
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RAI: Centre for Robotics and Artificial Intelligence
Cangelosi, A. (PI), Lennox, B. (PI), Weightman, A. (CoI), Dennis, L. (CoI), Dixon, C. (CoI), Fisher, M. (CoI), Herrmann, G. (CoI), Dickson, A. (CoI), Lanzon, A. (CoI), Stancu, A. (CoI), Miller, A. (CoI), Freitas, A. (CoI), Nini, A. (CoI), Voronkov, A. (CoI), Brass, A. (CoI), Vijayaraghavan, A. (CoI), Parslew, B. (CoI), crowther, W. (CoI), Grieve, B. (CoI), Adorno, B. (CoI), Jay, C. (CoI), Wang, C. C. L. (CoI), Todd, C. (CoI), Soutis, C. (CoI), Arsene, C. (CoI), Dresner, D. (CoI), Barrett, E. (CoI), Gowen, E. (CoI), Arvin, F. (CoI), Podd, F. (CoI), Brown, G. (CoI), Reger, G. (CoI), Cooper, G. (CoI), Mairs, H. (CoI), Yin, H. (CoI), Kinloch, I. (CoI), Eleftheriou, I. (CoI), Li, J. (CoI), Carrasco Gomez, J. (CoI), Ainsworth, J. (CoI), Sinha, J. (CoI), Ozanyan, K. (CoI), Smith, K. (CoI), Twomey, K. (CoI), Margetts, L. (CoI), Ren, L. (CoI), Zhang, L. (CoI), Cordeiro, L. (CoI), Rattray, M. (PI), Bissett, M. (CoI), Elliot, M. (CoI), Alvarez, M. (CoI), Luján, M. (CoI), Nabawy BSc, MSc, PhD, MRAeS, SMAIAA, FHEA, M. (CoI), Peek, N. (CoI), Marjanovic, O. (CoI), Dorn, O. (CoI), Dudek, P. (CoI), Green, P. (CoI), Connolly, P. (CoI), Da Silva Bartolo, P. J. (CoI), Gardner, P. (CoI), Martin, P. (CoI), Potluri, P. (CoI), Curtis, R. (CoI), Schmidt, R. (CoI), Banach, R. (CoI), Batista-Navarro, R. T. (CoI), Kaski, S. (CoI), Midson, S. (CoI), Watson, S. (CoI), Holm, S. (CoI), Furber, S. (CoI), Schlegel, V. (CoI), Mirihanage, W. (CoI), Mansell, W. (CoI), Pan, W. (CoI), Sampson, B. (CoI), Sellers, W. (CoI), Yang, W. (CoI), Cai, P. (CoI), Sun, Y. (CoI), Alharthi, A. (Researcher), Macario Rojas, A. (Researcher), Serhan, B. (Researcher), Yu, C. (Researcher), Abara, D. (Researcher), Lopez Pulgarin, E. (Researcher), Faruq, F. (Researcher), Tavella, F. (Researcher), Semeraro, F. (Researcher), Liu, G. (Researcher), Fang, G. (Researcher), Niu, H. (Researcher), Taylor, H. (PI), Zhu, H. (PGR student), Collenette, J. (Researcher), Amano, K. (Researcher), Lo, K. C. J. (PGR student), Raggioli, L. (Researcher), Romeo, M. (Researcher), Ruocco, M. (PGR student), Ghaffari Saadat, M. (Researcher), Walmsley, M. (Researcher), Mubarik, A. (Researcher), Vinanzi, S. (Researcher), Su, Y.-H. (PGR student), McAleese, H. (PGR student), Stringer, P. (PGR student), Stoican, R. (PGR student), Ye, R. (PGR student), Kurawa, S. S. (PGR student), Zhang, T. (PGR student), Krywonos, W. (PGR student), Xu, Y. (PGR student), Tian, Y. (PGR student), Henderson, A. (Technical team), Morley, D. (Support team), Tallentire, J. (Support team), Smith, J. (Support team), Hawthornthwaite, S. (Support team), Carlson, J. (Support team) & Baniqued, P. D. (Researcher)
Project: Research
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Space Systems Research Group
Smith, K. (PI), Roberts, P. (PI), Crisp, N. (PI), Mcgrath, C. (PI), Parslew, B. (CoI), Hollingsworth, P. (CoI), Utyuzhnikov, S. (CoI), Lo, K. C. J. (Researcher), Muirhead, I. (PGR student), Wijacinski, K. (PGR student), Kent, B. (PGR student), Mackintosh, J. (PGR student), Lopez Pardo, B. (PGR student), Nair, M. (Researcher), Agir, M. B. (Researcher), Singh, K. (PGR student), Treblow, S. (PGR student), Malik, M. (PGR student), Az Eldin, H. (PGR student), Yates, P. (Technical team), Efimov, I. (Researcher), Nadeem, J. (PGR student), Arumugam, S. (PGR student), Slater, A. (PGR student), Johnston, M. (PGR student), Milne, C. (PGR student), Thomas, C. (PGR student), Baig, M. M. T. (PGR student), Javagal, S. (PGR student), Singh, K. (PGR student), Zhou, J. (PGR student) & Huang, Y. (CoI)
Project: Research
Activities
- 1 Participating in a conference, workshop, exhibition, performance, inquiry, course etc
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European Space Agency 2nd Space Resources Challenge
Baniqued, P. D. (Chair), Bishop, C. (Participant), Atia, M. (Participant), Khan, D. (Participant), Tse, K. W. (Participant), Arumugam, S. (Participant), Baig, M. M. T. (Participant), Naylor, L. (Participant), Smith, K. (Participant), Morta-Garriga, M. (Participant) & Ionita, J. (Participant)
Jan 2025 → Nov 2025Activity: Participating in or organising event(s) › Participating in a conference, workshop, exhibition, performance, inquiry, course etc › Research
Impacts
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Centre for Robotic Autonomy in Demanding and Long Lasting Environments (CRADLE)
Baniqued, P. D. (Participant), Lennox, B. (Participant), Fisher, M. (Participant), Watson, S. (Participant), Flint, S. (Participant), Khan, D. (Participant), Tse, K. W. (Participant), Adorno, B. (Participant), Groves, K. (Participant), Atia, M. (Participant), Leslie-Dalley, S. (Participant), Dennis, L. (Participant), Zheng, S. (Participant), Limarga, R. (Participant), Farrell, M. (Collaborator), Cangelosi, A. (Participant), Dixon, C. (Participant), Collins, E. (Collaborator), Tavella, F. (Participant), Bolarinwa, J. (Participant), Chi, X. (Participant), Rolph, M. (Participant), Abeywickrama, D. (Participant), Rafiq, Y. (Participant), Bishop, C. (Participant), Wheelhouse, L. (Participant), Morley, A. (Participant), Bettles, J. (Participant), Soboyejo, T. (Participant), Weightman, A. (Collaborator), Marinho, M. (Collaborator), Ladosz, P. (Collaborator) & Smith, K. (Collaborator)
Impact: Economic, Environmental, Policy
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Space Sustainability
Mcgrath, C. (Participant), Crisp, N. (Participant), Nair, M. (Participant), Smith, K. (Participant) & Roberts, P. (Participant)
Impact
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Very Low Earth Orbits (VLEO) satellites - impacts from the DISCOVERER project
Roberts, P. (Participant), Smith, K. (Participant), Crisp, N. (Participant), Edmondson, S. (Participant) & Haigh, S. (Participant)
Impact: Economic, Technological, Policy
Press/Media
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New tool could reduce collision risk for Earth-observation satellites
Mackintosh, J., Smith, K. & Mcgrath, C.
16/02/26
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Research