Philipp Reiss

Prof. Philipp Reiss is a Professor of Lunar and Planetary Exploration Technologies at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), part of the TUM School of Engineering and Design. His academic journey includes a doctorate in lunar exploration (2018) and postdoctoral leadership of a research group, followed by ESA work on lunar mission instruments. He was appointed to his current role in 2022.

Education:

• Bachelor's/Master's in Aerospace Engineering from Bremen University of Applied Sciences and TUM
• Doctorate in Lunar Exploration (TUM, 2018)

Research Focus:

• Development of instruments for in-situ resource characterization (e.g., water detection on the Moon)
• Simulation of heat/mass transport in extraterrestrial environments
• Technologies for extreme environment exploration
• Legal and ethical frameworks for space resource utilization

Recent Article Trends: Recent work emphasizes lunar water cycle analysis, space resource extraction technologies, and ESA mission instrument development. Key projects include PROSPECT payload design and thermal extraction of volatiles from regolith.

Awards and Roles:

• ERC Grant Awardee (2024), Honorary Fellow at TUM Institute for Advanced Study
• Principal Investigator at ORIGINS Excellence Cluster (2022–present)
• Member of ESA’s PROSPECT science team (2019–present)
• Contributions to UN space resource legal discussions

Advising & Grants: Supervises research projects on lunar rover systems and resource utilization. Secured funding through ERC grants and ESA collaborations. Advises on international space policy initiatives.

Labs/Teams: Leads the Lunar and Planetary Exploration Professorship group at TUM, collaborating with ESA, JAXA, and the European Lunar Symposium. Active in developing planetary exploration tools like the PROSPECT permittivity sensor and MULE instrumentation.