Flavia Tata Nardini

Flavia Tata Nardini is an Italian aerospace engineer, entrepreneur, and co-founder and chief executive officer of Fleet Space Technologies in South Australia.

Originally from Rome Italy, where Nardini completed her Masters in aerospace engineering, she started her career at the European Space Agency in rocket propulsion technology. After relocating to Adelaide Nardini was instrumental in developing a network of nanosatellites in Low Earth Orbit providing connectivity and practical applications for satellite technology.

This initiative marked a significant milestone in Australia's venture into commercial satellite operations and more broadly, the global space industry.

Career
Her early career trajectory focused on rocket propulsion technology at the European Space Agency (ESA) and Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO). Moving to Australia in 2014 meant Nardini looked for new opportunities so she launched her own company and developed educational software for children to 3D print nanosatellites and launch them. Nardini worked for a number of years on the CubeSat research project at University of Adelaide, where their miniaturised satellite was launched by NASA and deployed from the International Space Station. Nardini recognised a gap in the market and moved to developing the concept and commercial model for a global Internet of Things (IoT) nanosatellite network. The first four nanosatellites were launched in 2015 with further expansion during 2021-2023 on board SpaceX Transporter-5. Through her Fleet Space Technology nanosatellites Nardini has identified practical applications for a range of industries including improvements in the ability to identify minerals and deposits for mining, as well as working on defence capabilities in space.

Research
Nardini's research has focused on the combination of rocket propulsion, nanotechnology, re-usable rocket technology and ambient noise tomography (ANT).

Awards

 * 2020 First Among Equals Award in South Australia’s 40 Under 40 for 2020
 * 2022 South Australian Pearcey Award for Entrepreneur of the Year Award
 * Australian Space Awards 2023 - Female Space Leader of the Year
 * Australian Space Awards 2023 - Excellence Award