Meet Marcos Lopez-Caniego Alcarria, an ESDC Operations Scientist in Madrid, Spain, whose work connects decades of curiosity about the universe with some of Europe’s most important space missions.
Marcos joined SSC Space in 2015, bringing with him a PhD in astronomy and more than twenty years of experience across academia and the space industry. His scientific roots lie in the study of the cosmic microwave background, but his interests extend well beyond a single field. Innovation, data-driven discovery, and the growing role of artificial intelligence in science all shape how he approaches his work today.
Since joining, Marcos has supported the scientific operations of multiple flagship missions for our client, the European Space Agency, including Planck, Hubble, James Webb, and Euclid. Together, these missions observe the universe in different ways, helping scientists understand how it began, how it evolved, and what it looks like today.
Like many, Marcos’ fascination with the universe began early. Inspired by science fiction series such as Star Trek, he was captivated by the idea of exploring space, though at the time he never imagined it could become a profession.
“I could not imagine I could make a living doing what I liked the most, studying our universe,” he says.
Today, that childhood curiosity has evolved into a career spent working with images of the sky captured across the electromagnetic spectrum, each revealing a different piece of the cosmic story.
Some of his proudest moments come during the most critical phases of a mission: launches, commissioning, nominal operations, and ultimately the release of data to the global scientific community. He recalls the 2009 launch of the Planck cosmology mission and working on the first light survey data, as well as time spent at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore during the commissioning of ESA-led instruments aboard the James Webb Space Telescope.
“Watching a spacecraft respond exactly as expected or seeing the first light images come down after years of effort, reminds me why our work matters,” Marcos reflects. “It is a privilege to be part of something that outlives us and will benefit the scientific community for decades.”
Looking ahead, the message he would send to his future self is simple but powerful: stay curious, hold on to the joy of discovery, and keep advocating for space missions that truly matter.
From Madrid, Marcos continues to turn humanity’s questions about the universe into data and understanding, laying the scientific foundations that enable discovery for generations to come.
