MANTA: Monitoring Array for Nanoparticle Tracking and Assessment
About the Project
Transform deployable structures into an impact sensing capability — with applications spanning orbital debris, micrometeorites and cosmic dust.
- HOST UNIVERSITY: University of Auckland
- INDUSTRY PARTNER: Frond Space Systems Limited
- PLACEMENT: Auckland | New Zealand
Help build the next generation of debris and dust sensing
Low Earth Orbit is increasingly congested with untracked sub-millimetre debris — too small for ground-based radar, yet energetic enough to steadily damage spacecraft. Frond Space Systems has developed commercially available, deployable dragsails to accelerate satellite disposal. This applied doctoral project explores how these large-area surfaces could be adapted into a sensing capability with relevance to debris monitoring and micrometeorite and dust detection for cis-lunar and solar system science.
What you will work on
- Impact sensing fundamentals: Investigate how hypervelocity impacts on thin-film structures can be detected and characterised, drawing on principles applicable across both orbital debris and micrometeorite/dust environments.
- Material & environmental performance: Assess how space conditions — vacuum, thermal cycling and cumulative wear — affect long-duration sensing performance.
- Experimental validation: Develop a staged testing programme, progressing from laboratory-scale proxies through to representative impact facilities.
- Mission and science applications: Explore how a distributed sensor network could support debris population studies alongside broader planetary science applications, including lunar and interplanetary dust environments.
Who should consider applying?
We welcome candidates from an engineering or physics background with interest in dynamics, sensing, materials and data analysis. The project suits someone who enjoys experimental and theoretical work and can translate methods into a flight-ready capability.
Due to the nature of the work, only citizens from the following list of countries will be considered:
- New Zealand, UK, Canada, Australia, USA, Japan, South Korea, Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey.
Application date must consider ability to obtain suitable visa by March 2027.
Applied Doctorates Scheme:
Be part of a cohort of 22 PhD students across NZ focused on Aerospace, Defence & Security. In addition to your technical research, you will learn advanced business and entrepreneurial skills, connect with industry leaders, and be prepared to tackle real-world challenges—transforming cutting-edge research into meaningful change in science, technology, and innovation.
Supervision
Academic:
- Prof. Mark Battley, Department of Engineering Science, University of Auckland
Industry:
- Benjamin Taylor, CEO, Frond Space Systems Limited
Application closing date: 10th October 2026
HOW TO APPLY
First read the Applied Doctorates Scheme Application Guidance, including the note for University of Auckland applicants. Apply for doctoral admission through the University of Auckland portal. Once you receive your University ID and application number, complete the application form on the Applied Doctorates Scheme website.
Project ID: 2.11
Questions? m.battley@auckland.ac.nz | ben@frond.space
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