Skip Navigation
Search for People:
Search for Projects:

Flavio Petricca

Photo of Flavio Petricca

Address:

4800 Oak Grove Drive

Mail Stop: 183-601

Pasadena, CA 91109

Email:

Click here

Contact:

Click here

Curriculum Vitae:

Click here

Member of:

Planetary Interiors and Geophysics

JPL Postdoctoral Fellow

Biography

Flavio is an early-career planetary scientist specializing in geophysics and interior modeling of planets and moons. After obtaining a PhD in Space Engineering from Sapienza University of Rome in 2023, he joined JPL as a JPL Postdoctoral Fellow.

His research integrates spacecraft data analysis with advanced multi-physical modeling to investigate planetary interiors using complementary measurements from gravity, radio science, magnetometry, altimetry, and imaging. A central goal of his work is to combine multiple datasets to leverage synergies between different science investigations and shed light on the origins, evolution and interior structure of icy moons. He is also actively involved in the search for extraterrestrial oceans in the outer Solar System, from reanalyzing legacy mission data to formulating observational strategies for upcoming missions.

Education

  • 2020-2023: PhD, Space Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome
  • 2017-2019: Master’s Degree, Space and Astronautical Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome
  • 2014-2017: Bachelor’s Degree, Aerospace Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome

Professional Experience

    • 2024-current: JPL Postdoctoral Fellow
    • 2023-2024: Postdoctoral researcher, Sapienza University of Rome

Research Interests

  • Geodesy and geophysics
  • Interior structure modeling
  • Gravity / radio science
  • Origins and evolution of icy moons

Selected Awards

  • 2025: JPL Award for “Delivering a Refined Science Traceability Matrix for a Uranus Orbiter and Probe Mission”
  • 2021: Outstanding Sapienza University of Rome Graduate Student

Selected Publications

  1. Petricca, F., Vance, S. D., Parisi, M., Buccino, D., Cascioli, G., Castillo-Rogez, J. C., Downey, B. G., Nimmo, F., Tobie, G., Journaux, B., Magnanini, A., Jones, U., Panning, M., Bagheri, A., Genova, A., Lunine, J. I., Titan’s Strong Tidal Dissipation Precludes a Subsurface Ocean, Nature, in press. (2025)
  2. Petricca, F., Castillo-Rogez, J. C., Genova, A., Melwani Daswani, M., Cochrane, C., Vance, S. D., Partial Differentiation of Europa and Implications for the Origin of Materials in the Jupiter System, Nature Astronomy. (2025)
  3. Petricca, F., Landau, D., Melwani Daswani, M., Castillo-Rogez, J. C., Gravity and Radio Science Investigation at the Moons of Uranus to Reveal Subsurface Oceans and Characterize Interior Structures, Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. (2025)
  4. Petricca, F., Tharimena, S., Melini, D., Spada, G., Bagheri, A., Vance, S. D., Exploring the tidal responses of ocean worlds with PyALMA3, Icarus. (2024)
  5. Petricca, F., Genova, A., Castillo-Rogez, J. C., Styczinski, M. J., Corey, C. J., Vance, S. D., Characterization of Icy Moon Hydrospheres Through Joint Inversion of Gravity and Magnetic Field Measurements, Geophysical Research Letters. (2023)
  6. Petricca, F., Genova, A., Sequential Processing of Inter-Satellite Doppler Tracking for a Dual-Spacecraft Configuration, Remote Sensing. (2022)
  7. Petricca, F., Genova, A., Goossens, S., Iess, L., Spada, G., Constraining the Internal Structures of Venus and Mars from the Gravity Response to Atmospheric Loading, The Planetary Science Journal. (2022)
  8. Petricca, F., Cascioli, G., Genova, A., A Technique for the Analysis of Radio Occultation Data to Retrieve Atmospheric Properties, Radio Science. (2021)

Projects

Europa Clipper