Dear Reader,

This special issue focuses on the PEGASUS Student Conference (PSC), held at the University of Pisa on 20–22, 2022, for the first time in person after the worldwide sanitary emergency of COVID-19. PEGASUS—Partnership of a European Group of Aeronautics and Space UniversitieS—is the partnership of the best European aerospace universities and currently has 28 members in 11 different European countries. Today, more than 2000 aeronautical engineers graduate from the member institutions of PEGASUS each year (https://www.pegasus-europe.org).

PEGASUS aims to offer highly relevant educational and research programs and attract the best students and scientists. Coordinated developments, exchange of staff and students, and innovation are the basis for achieving these objectives. The PSC is reserved for Master’s Students who have graduated from the PEGASUS Universities no more than 1 year before the conference date. It offers them a unique opportunity to get together, exchange experiences and traditions, and create opportunities at the international level. The Conference is organized based on competitive selection. The first selection is operated at the local level since each University is allowed to present not more than three papers. The written papers are then evaluated by two professors from different countries to the author(s) of the paper, recognized as experts in the covered topic. The final combined score is obtained after the oral presentation at the Conference by two other Professors, again not of the same country as the speaker and not the same Professors who have judged the written paper. In addition, to keep the spirit of the Conference and wish an exciting opportunity for the top students participating at the Conference, the Conference organizers have decided to publish, after another classical review process of a scientific journal, such papers on a dedicated issue of ATMS.

The PEGASUS Community would like to thank the Editorial Board of ATMS Springer Journal for offering the opportunity of a special issue dedicated to this Conference, recognizing the importance and the credit that the PSC has achieved in the aerospace scientific community. Furthermore, on behalf of all the PEGASUS Universities and their representatives, we express our gratitude to Aerotecnica for hosting the best papers in their special issue. We hope to maintain this link for future editions of the Pegasus Student Conference.