What surprises you most about him is how he remains true to himself at all times. He has a completely natural ability to articulate his inner feelings. When he was in high school, he felt he needed a change of scenery and set off abroad to gain experience. After seven years in Italy working in the fascinating field of space technology, he longed to return home to Brno because of the character of “Czech girls.” Following a brief stint at Zetor, he returned to his professional passion, space technology, and now knows he wants to spend his entire career in this field.
The story of Michal Mičola, leader of the MAIT (Manufacturing, Assembly, Integration, and Testing) team at TRL Space, is not merely a chronicle of technical achievements. It is a tale of intuition, the courage to raise one’s hand at the right moment, and the search for balance between a global career and the need to belong at home. In an environment where every gram counts and where an error the size of a dust particle can mean the loss of a billion-dollar investment, Michal acts as a calm force that bridges the world of abstract engineering calculations with the harsh reality of physical assembly.
From taking apart radios to Italian giants
Nothing in Michal’s childhood suggested that he would one day be involved in building satellites. He describes himself as a child with a wide range of interests: from soccer and hockey to music and fishing. Even though he chose to attend a technical high school specializing in electrical engineering, he wasn’t “aiming straight for the stars.” “I knew I’d always enjoyed tinkering with old radios, but I was better at taking them apart than fixing them,” he admits with a smile. While his classmates spent their weekends soldering amplifiers with their grandfathers, he felt like he was in the field more by accident than design.
Everything changed in April 2008, just one month before graduation. The owner of a small Czech company that leased experts to major European players came to the class. The offer was: an internship in Italy or French Guiana. Amid the uncertainty of eighteen-year-old students, Michal was the only one who wasn’t afraid to apply. Instead of going to college, he got in a car headed for Italy just two weeks after graduation, kicking off a seven-year stint at prestigious Italian “satellite factories.”
It was there that Michal realized the vast difference between the Czech and Italian industries of that time. While in the Czech Republic in 2010 the space sector was just getting started and most companies focused on terrestrial engineering, in Italy he worked in giants with hundreds of employees and a history stretching back decades. “Here, the space industry really began around 2010, while in Italy it had been around for ages,” he explains.
Although our Italian colleagues had experience and advanced materials, when it came to tasks requiring absolute precision and improvisation, they often turned to their Czech colleagues.
MAIT is much more than just a screwdriver
Michal’s current role at TRL Space is defined by the acronym MAIT. To the layperson, it may sound dry and technical, but for Michal, it is the art of transforming a digital model into a reality that can withstand a rocket launch.
His work begins long before the first screw reaches him. He acts as a reviewer for the designers. “When a designer models in SolidWorks, they see functionality, but often only the actual design implementation reveals whether everything is feasible,” says Michal Mičola. His task is to eliminate “friction points” – that is, moments when an engineer designs a brilliant joint that no screwdriver or torque wrench can physically reach. This manufacturability check saves millions, because fixing a mistake on a finished part is nearly impossible in the space industry.
When we’re catching up on lost time, I work 16 hours a day
Working in the MAIT section is extremely mentally demanding. The team doesn’t get involved in a project until its very end, often after two years of intensive development by hundreds of other people. At that point, there is no room for error. Michal constantly reminds his team that a single lapse in attention or a sudden movement could destroy years of work and investments amounting to tens of millions of crowns.
The situation is complicated by the fact that space projects almost never go according to schedule. Delays from suppliers pile up, and the MAIT team is the one tasked with making up for the lost time. “We have two months planned for integration, but because of the delays, we end up having to do it in two weeks. Then we work 16-hour shifts nonstop,” Michal Mičola describes the reality. It is in moments like these that his discipline shines through. Even after 16 hours in a humming clean room, he must maintain 100% concentration.
Right time to return
After years abroad, despite a successful career and an Italian girlfriend, Michal Mičola felt that his place was in Brno. His first stop after returning was the legendary Zetor – especially since he’s from Líšeň and it was just a few minutes’ walk to the offices. But as he admits, the environment stifled him a bit. “In the automotive industry, everyone has a precise calculation of how long it takes to install a steering wheel. Here, everything is a first; we focus much more on reliability and extreme conditions,” he compares.
Today, Michal is proud of what he has managed to build in Brno. The city has become a hub where companies, universities, and research centers collaborate. While there was almost nothing in this field here in 2008, today Michal has interns on his team who are studying Space Applications. “That’s an amazing step forward; if this had existed when I was finishing high school, I wouldn’t have hesitated for a second,” he says.
TROLL? Euphoria at 3 a.m.
When it comes to his greatest achievements, he doesn’t mention major European contracts, but rather the TROLL satellite. It was a project he was involved in from the very first stroke of the pen to the last screw tightened. When he watched the live broadcast of the Falcon rocket launch that “sent” the satellite into orbit, the emotions were comparable to the birth of a child. “It was an incredible euphoria. I remember finishing work at three in the morning on the last day and turning the music up full blast in the car because we had simply done it,” he recalls the moment of relief after extreme dedication.
Michal Mičola is an example of a person who has found his calling in the details. He believes that the Czech space industry is no longer just a “cheap assembly plant,” but a place where world-class high-tech solutions are created. His journey from the technical high school in Kroměříž through Italian cleanrooms to leading a team at TRL Space shows that with a little courage, one can aim for the stars – while still keeping one’s feet firmly on the ground.
