Professor Hugh Lewis PhD

Professor Hugh Lewis

Department of Electronic, Electrical and Systems Engineering
Chair in Astronautics

Contact details

Email
h.g.lewis@bham.ac.uk
View my research portal
Address
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Hugh holds a Chair in Astronautics at University of Birmingham. His research interests include artificial intelligence, spacecraft systems engineering, space debris, space situational awareness, space safety, and space sustainability.

Qualifications

  • PhD in AI for Remote Sensing, University of Southampton, 1998
  • MSc in Control Systems, University of Sheffield, 1993
  • BSc (Eng) in Control Engineering, University of Sheffield, 1992

Biography

Hugh has been a Professor of Astronautics and a member of the SERENE Group at University of Birmingham since 2025. Prior to that, he was a Professor of Astronautics at the University of Southampton. He has worked in the fields of space debris, space situational awareness and space sustainability for 27 years, and he is the author of the DAMAGE and RENEGADE space debris models. Hugh has represented the UK Space Agency as a delegate of the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC) for 23 years and has served as the chair of Working Group 2. Hugh has also represented the UK Space Agency at Scientific and Technical Sub-Committee meetings of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) as an expert on space debris, space operations and space situational awareness. In addition, he was a UK Space Agency delegate to the Space Mission Planning Advisory Group, which was set-up by the UN COPUOS to develop plans for spacecraft to monitor and mitigate the threat that asteroids and comets pose to the Earth. Hugh is a member of the Astra Carta Advisory Council, the AIAA Space Sustainability Task Force, the Royal Astronomical Society's Satellite Constellation Working Group, the International Astronomical Union Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky, and the Clean Orbit Foundation Advisory Board. He provides expert opinion to academia, industry and government, and commentary to journalists worldwide. Hugh has appeared on the BBC's Horizon and Sky at Night television programmes, and in a special feature accompanying the DVD and Blu-Ray release of the movie "Gravity".

Teaching

  • Engineering Final Year Undergraduate Projects
  • Individual Project (MSc EESE)

Postgraduate supervision

  • Space debris, space situational awareness, space sustainability

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Perks, ME, Lewis, HG & Vaidya, N 2025, 'The impact of SATCON recommendations on the safety and sustainability of large constellations', Journal of Space Safety Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsse.2025.10.003

Perks, ME, Lewis, HG & Vaidya, N 2024, 'A holistic systems thinking approach to space sustainability via space debris management', Journal of Space Safety Engineering, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 532-538. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsse.2024.05.007

Mitchell, HL, Cox, SJ & Lewis, HG 2024, 'A Low-Cost Sensor Network for Monitoring Peatland', Sensors, vol. 24, no. 18, 6019. https://doi.org/10.3390/s24186019

Mitchell, HL, Cox, SJ & Lewis, HG 2024, 'Calibration of a Low-Cost Methane Sensor Using Machine Learning', Sensors, vol. 24, no. 4, 1066. https://doi.org/10.3390/s24041066

Lewis, HG & Yazadzhiyan, V 2024, 'Evaluation of low earth orbit post-mission disposal measures', Journal of Space Safety Engineering, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 526-531. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsse.2024.03.008

Brown, M, Lewis, HG, Kavanagh, AJ, Cnossen, I & Elvidge, S 2024, 'Future Climate Change in the Thermosphere Under Varying Solar Activity Conditions', Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, vol. 129, no. 9, e2024JA032659. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024ja032659

Lewis, HG & Skelton, G 2024, 'Safety considerations for large constellations of satellites', Journal of Space Safety Engineering, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 439-445. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsse.2024.08.001

Diaz, P, Mesalles Ripoll, P, Duncan, M, Lindsay, M, Harris, T & Lewis, HG 2023, 'Data-Driven Lifetime Risk Assessment and Mitigation Planning for Large-Scale Satellite Constellations', Journal of the Astronautical Sciences, vol. 70, no. 4, 21. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40295-023-00384-w

Blacketer, L, Lewis, H & Urrutxua, H 2022, 'Identifying illumination conditions most suitable for attitude detection in light curves of simple geometries', Advances in Space Research, vol. 69, no. 3, pp. 1578-1587. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2021.11.010

Trisolini, M, Lewis, HG & Colombo, C 2021, 'Constrained optimisation of preliminary spacecraft configurations under the design-for-demise paradigm', Journal of Space Safety Engineering, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 63-74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsse.2021.01.005

Brown, MK, Lewis, HG, Kavanagh, AJ & Cnossen, I 2021, 'Future Decreases in Thermospheric Neutral Density in Low Earth Orbit due to Carbon Dioxide Emissions', Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, vol. 126, no. 8, e2021JD034589. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JD034589

Conference contribution

Taylor, G, Lewis, H & Sykulska-Lawrence, H 2024, Simulating Active Debris Removal Missions. in 22nd IAA Symposium on Space Debris: Held at the 75th International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2024). vol. 3, Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress, International Astronautical Federation, pp. 1554-1563, 22nd IAA Symposium on Space Debris, Milan, Italy, 14/10/24. https://doi.org/10.52202/078360-0147

McKnight, D, Maclay, T, Kunstadter, C, Bonnal, C, Weeden, B, Oltrogge, D, Lewis, H, Kawamoto, S, Florin, MV, Schaefer, F & Everetts, W 2022, Identifying critical LEO kinetic space safety activities. in 20th IAA Symposium on Space Debris: Held at the 73rd International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2022). vol. 1, Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress, International Astronautical Federation, pp. 661-672, 73rd International Astronautical Congress, Paris, France, 18/09/22.

Elvidge, S, Themens, D, Lewis, H & Marsh, D 2022, WP4 – Impact of ionospheric change at small-scales on the neutral atmosphere. in DRIIVE KO Meeting.

Brown, M, Lewis, H, Kavanagh, A & Cnossen, I 2021, Climate Change in Space: Thermospheric Density Reductions in LEO and the Impact on the Debris Environment. in T Flohrer, S Lemmens & F Schmitz (eds), 8th European Conference on Space Debris. European Conferences on Space Debris, no. 1, vol. 8, ESA Space Debris Office, 8th European Conference on Space Debris, 20/04/21. <https://conference.sdo.esoc.esa.int/proceedings/sdc8/paper/178/SDC8-paper178.pdf>

View all publications in research portal