Prof Dr Bernd Dachwald is professor for astronautical engineering at FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences, Germany. He is project director for FH Aachen’s IceMole project and lead of the Enceladus Explorer consortium. He is also adjunct lecturer for space systems engineering at RWTH Aachen University. Before his current position, he was mission operations director for SAR-Lupe at the DLR German Space Operations Center at Oberpfaffenhofen and postdoc mission analyst at DLR Cologne. In 2003, he obtained his PdD in aerospace engineering from the University of the Armed Forces Munich for low-thrust trajectory optimization. He has studied aerospace engineering at the University of the Armed Forces Munich and postgraduate business administration at the University of Hagen. His current fields of scientific research are space mission analysis, design and optimization, intelligent methods for spacecraft trajectory optimization and attitude control, innovative space technologies (especially solar sails and subsurface sampling). Solar System exploration (especially icy moons and small bodies), astrobiology, and planetary defence.