Making changes

Josef Aschbacher, of Austrian nationality, is a geophysicist by education. He joined ESA in 1990. Throughout his career he held various positions in different locations. He also worked for the European Union. In 2016 he became ESA’s Director of Earth Observation, and in 2021 he took office as ESA’s Director General.

Mrs Evi PAPANTONIOU is Director for Space (acting) in the European Commission – Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space (DEFIS), responsible for EU Space Policy and EU space flagships, Copernicus and Galileo /EGNOS. She is responsible in particular for actions supporting the EU aerospace ecosystem, as well as for relations with the European Space Agency and the EU Space Programme Agency.

Until December 2019, she was the Head of Unit in the Directorate-General for the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW) – responsible for legal and inter-institutional aspects of Galileo/EGNOS, the EU satellite navigation programme. Previously, she contributed in setting-up the EU Defence Fund and dealt with EU response on countering hybrid threats. 

She also worked in European Commission Task Force for Greece, assisting the Greek Government in the EU bailout Programme implementing structural reforms in the area of business environment and justice reform.  

As competition lawyer by training, she worked for several years in DG Competition, on competition enforcement in anti-trust, but also state aid control. 

Before joining the European Commission, she worked in the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg and as a competition lawyer in Paris.

She holds a Master of Laws (LLM) in EU law from the College of Europe in Bruges.

On 16 October 2020, Rodrigo da Costa took up his duties as Executive Director of the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), formerly the European GNSS Agency (GSA). Prior to this, he was the Galileo Services Programme Manager from March 2017.

Before joining the GSA, Rodrigo da Costa held several senior project management, business development, and institutional key account management positions in the space industry, in the areas of human space flight, exploration, launchers and R&D.

Rodrigo da Costa holds a degree in Aerospace Engineering from the “Instituto Superior Tecnico” in Lisbon, a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Delft, and an MBA from the EuroMBA consortium of Business Schools.

Rajeev was appointed as Inmarsat’s Chief Executive Officer in March 2021 and as Chair of the Global Satellite Operators Association (GSOA) in March 2022.

He joined Inmarsat from Nokia, where he was most recently President and Chief Executive Officer. From 2009 to 2014 Rajeev was Chief Executive Officer of Nokia Solutions and Networks. During his tenure as CEO, he transformed Nokia into a top two telecommunications infrastructure company, led the consolidation of the sector from ten to three major players, positioned Nokia as a leader in a world connected by 5G and shaped by increasing digitalisation and automation. Under his leadership, Nokia acquired the networks businesses of Siemens, Motorola, Alcatel-Lucent, including the famed Bell Labs, successfully expanded into enterprise vertical markets, created the world’s leading standalone telecom software business, significantly grew the annual recurring revenue patent licensing business and engineered the return of the Nokia brand to mobile phones.

Rajeev has lived and worked in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe. In March 2021, he was reappointed as a Commissioner of the United Nations Broadband Commission. He was Co-Chair of the digitalisation task force for the B20 and member of various digital and healthcare committees at the World Economic Forum. Rajeev was a member of the Chinese Premier’s Global CEO Council from 2014 to 2020, a recipient of China’s Marco Polo award; the highest honour awarded to an international business person from the Chinese government. Rajeev is an engineering graduate in Electronics and Communications and has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Manipal University.

Bio will be updated soon.

Paul Adamson is chairman of Forum Europe and Forum Global and founder of Encompass an online magazine and discussion space dedicated to covering the European Union and the UK’s place in the world. He is also the chairman of the EU-UK Forum and a member of the Independent Commission on UK-EU Relations..

Paul is a member of the Centre for European Reform’s advisory board and Rand Europe’s Council of Advisors. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Policy Institute, King’s College London, a Senior Adviser at the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center and a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Britain and Europe at the University of Surrey. He is a patron of the University Association of Contemporary European Studies (UACES) and a Fellow of the UK Academy of Social Sciences.

In 2012, Paul was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) “for services to promoting understanding of the European Union” and in 2016 he was made a Chevalier in the Ordre national du Mérite by the French government.

Luigi Pasquali has been the Coordinator of Leonardo Space Activities and Telespazio Chief Executive Officer since February 2013.

Graduated in Electronic Engineering, Luigi attended courses in Finance and Business Management. He also served the Italian Army as Officer in the Technical Corps, in charge of Telecommunications.

He begins his career in Selenia as System Engineer being involved in several international projects. Then he moves to Stet/Telecom dealing with Development and International Strategies. After a period spent as Director of Business Development in Atlanet, Telefonica group, he is appointed Director of Telecommunications in Alenia Spazio (now Thales Alenia Space) with prominence and increasing responsibilities. Luigi joins Telespazio as Chief Operating Officer and, after a while, he returns to run Thales Alenia Space Italia as Chairman and CEO as well as Deputy CEO of Thales Alenia Space Group.

Luigi is currently member of the Board of Directors of Thales Alenia Space and AVIO, Chairman of Thales Alenia Space Italy as well as member of the Board of AIAD (Federation of Italian Industries for Aerospace, Defence and Security) and Member of the Council of Eurospace and ESOA.

He is registered in the Roll of Engineers of the Province of Rome, Italy.

Evert Dudok has been Executive Vice President of Connected Intelligence since the creation of Airbus Defence and Space in 2014. He is a member of the Airbus Defence and Space Executive Committee.

Prior to that, he was the CEO of EADS Astrium Services, a Member of the Board of Directors of Astrium, and Chairman of the Managing Board of Astrium GmbH. He was also previously CEO of Astrium Satellites and President of Space Transportation at Astrium.

Dudok began his long career in the aerospace, defence, and security industries as a development engineer at MBB (later DASA, the former aerospace subsidiary of Daimler-Benz AG). He focused on antenna products and technologies for space applications for the first 10 years of his career, before increasingly taking on more commercial and strategic roles. After the creation of Astrium in 2000, Dudok took over the role of Director of the Business Unit Navigation & Constellations, which shortly after broadened to encompass all of the Earth Observation, Navigation & Science satellite activities.

Having spent the bulk of his career based in Germany, Evert Dudok is a recognised figure in German and European discussions around space activities. Since 2015, Dudok is a board member of Jenoptik AG.

Evert Dudok is a Dutch citizen, born in Venlo, the Netherlands in 1959. He obtained his degree in Electrical Engineering Summa Cum Laude from the Technical University of Eindhoven in 1984. He speaks Dutch, English, and German fluently, and has been known to stumble his way through a few speeches in French as well. He is a proud grandfather, father of two sons, and husband. He and his wife have been married for over 30 years. In his free time, Dudok can be most often found enjoying nature, traveling with family, skiing, or diving.

Massimo Claudio Comparini, former CEO at eGeos since 2016 and Director Line of Business Geo Information at Telespazio, has a long and proven track record in space industry, from technology to services, and in the earth observation domain. 

Massimo holds a Master Degree in Electrical Engineering, Remote Sensing and Radar Systems, University of Rome La Sapienza (Italy), and a Degree in Strategy from Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, CA (USA). He started his career in 1983 at Selenia Spazio (later Alenia Spazio), holding various management positions, up to the role of Chief Technology Officer. 

In 2013 he was appointed CTO of Telespazio, a joint venture between Leonardo (67%) and Thales (33%). In 2016 he became the CEO of eGeos, an ASI (20%) and Telespazio (80%) company, an established international leader in the Earth Observation and Geo-Spatial Information, and, in his role, Chairman of GAF and EarthLab Luxembourg. 

He is also an expert member on the Advisory Board of the Centre for Advanced Studies, Research and Development in Sardinia (CSR4).

Theodora Ogden is an analyst working in the area of defence, security and infrastructure at RAND Europe. She is currently on sabbatical at Arizona State University as the appointed Interplanetary Initiative Fellow, where she conducts research into space law and governance, access to space, and emerging space economies and industries. With an academic background in security and international law, Ogden sharpened her analytical toolkit throughout her experiences working at RAND Europe, NATO HQ SACT, the Fundamental Rights Agency of the EU, as well as at several think tanks and non-profit organisations.

Lutz Bertling is responsible for Corporate & Business Development, Strategy and Digitalisation at OHB Group, one of Europe’s Large System Integrators in the Space Industry. Furthermore he heads OHB´s Business Segment OHB DIGITAL. As part of his responsibilities for Corporate Development, OHB Venture Capital is the investment arm of OHB Group to foster cooperation with start-ups.

Before his role at OHB, he has been President & COO of Bombardier Transportation Group and previously President & CEO of Eurocopter Group, today Airbus Helicopters, and Member of the Airbus Group Executive Committee. In his earlier career path he held several management positions in the Aerospace and the Rail Transportation Industries. Dr. Bertling holds a PhD and a master in mechanical engineering of the Technical University of Braunschweig.

Since October 2016, Dr. Xavier Pasco (Doct. In Pol. Sc.- Univ. of Paris-Sorbonne) has been
Director of the Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique (FRS) in Paris. Before that, Dr. Pasco
has been in charge of space, high technology and security-related studies since the late
eighties at FRS and CREST (Center for Research and Evaluation of the relationships between
Strategies and Technology) associated to Ecole Polytechnique.
Xavier Pasco has been in charge of numerous studies and working groups about National and
European space policies in the field of civilian and military activities. He is a specialist of the
United States space policy and programmes, with a focus on the transatlantic relationships
dealing with military space and interoperability issues. Since 2004, Xavier Pasco has engaged
in specific research projects managed by the European Commission in the field of space and
security research. He has been in charge of End-User engagement programmes in several,
PASR, FP6 and FP 7 projects related to high tech security related to space technology and
critical infrastructures. He has been in charge of the ESA-commissioned study related to
governance and data policy models suitable for a European Space Situational Awareness
System (2008-2009) and has been the coordinator of the EDA Study on Earth observation
Ground Segment System of Systems for Security and Defence (2011-2012). He has also
supported several analytical works of the subcommittee on Security and Defence of the
European Parliament on these issues and has been contributed to further ESA on-going work
on governance and data policy issues for future programmes. He is today the lead
coordinator of SPACEWAYS, a European Commission-sponsored project dedicated to
studying Space Traffic Management with a team of key European industry actors, research
centres and Institutes.
Xavier Pasco has also led many research programmes in France and has been the author,
coordinator or “rapporteur” of many research reports on space issues including official
reports. He has also conducted several projects related to missile defense issues as well as to
the use of space for security, notably in support of national and other international
organizations. For over 12 years, he has been in charge of many studies for the French
ministry of Armed Forces).
Xavier Pasco has been Associate Research Fellow at the Space Policy Institute in the George
Washington University (Washington D.C., U.S.A.) since 1994. He has also been giving lectures
in the French Military School in Paris as well as at the Institute of Political Studies in Paris. He
is the European Editor of the international academic review Space Policy. In 2012, Xavier
Pasco has been elected full member of the International Academy of Astronautics. He is also
a member of the U.S. based Secure World Foundation (SWF) Advisory Committee.
He has published numerous works (books and more than 100 articles or papers) on these
topics. His latest book: “Le nouvel âge spatial : de la Guerre froide au New Space”, Paris,
CNRS Editions, 2017.

Niklas Nienass is Member of the European Parliament for The Greens/EFA, where he is responsible for space policy. A strong supporter of the European new space economy, he is committed to establish a European space law and set international standards for space traffic management. He has a seat in the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE), where he negotiates space related legislative files on behalf of the Greens/EFA group. In 2020 he graduated with a Master’s degree on Good Governance with a thesis on international space law.

In addition, Niklas is also member of the Committees on Regional Development (REGI), Culture and Education (CULT) and Constitutional Affairs (AFCO). He is co-founder of the Cultural Creators Friendship Group, the RUMRA & Smart Village Intergroup and the Youth Interest Group. Last but not least, he is also a member of the European Parliament Delegations for Central Asia and Mongolia and Afghanistan.

Since 2014 Massimiliano Salini is a Member of the European Parliament in the EPP Group, where he is full Member of the Committees for International Trade (INTA), for Transport and Tourism (TRAN), and substitute Member for Industry, Research and Energy Committee (ITRE).

Mr Salini parliamentary work aims at seeking a balance between EU industrial competitiveness and the transition towards a more sustainable economy.

His main centers of interest are related to manufacturing, energy market and SMEs. In 2018 he is appointed Rapporteur for the European Parliament on the New EU Space Programme, in the framework of the new MFF for 2021-2027. As Vice-president of the Sky and Space Intergroup, he promotes further discussions on the aerospace sector within the European Parliament. Today he continues his activity in the space policy as EPP Shadow Rapporteur of the Secure Connectivity initiative.

Koen Willems has +20 years’ experience working in different technology industries. Before joining ST Engineering iDirect he was Product Marketing Manager for Europe at the electronics giant TOSHIBA.

Currently, Willems is Head of International Government Market & Strategy, with focus on the global government, defense and humanitarian satcom markets, at ST Engineering iDirect. In this role Willems is in charge of developing and defining the company’s strategy for the government and defense market worldwide as well as supporting large programs.

Willems has a master’s degree in English and Scandinavian Languages from Ghent University and a master’s degree in Marketing Strategy and Management from Vlekho Business School.

More recently, Willems received the degree for ‘High Studies in Security and Defence’ at the Belgian Royal Higher Institute for Defence as well as the degree for the SERA program (European Session for Armament Officials) which focuses on European defense acquisition regulation, challenges and procedures at the French National Institute of Higher Defense in Paris.

You may know Willems as a technology and thought leadership evangelist through his regular appearance in editorials in satellite-focused publications, white papers and speaking slots at government- and defense-oriented conferences around the world.

Bio to be updated shortly

Euronews science reporter Jeremy Wilks covers a broad range of subjects from space exploration to climate change. He hosts the monthly Climate Now series and the Ocean Calls podcast on Euronews. He has reported on science research, innovation and digital technology across Europe for over 15 years. 

Dan Chirondojan is Director for Space, Security and Migration since 2016 in the DG Joint Research Centre, the scientific and knowledge service of the European Commission. The mission of the Directorate is to focus on research and knowledge management regarding technology innovation in security, disaster risk / emergency management, cyber security, hybrid threats, transport and border security, geopolitical technological risks, critical infrastructure protection, space-based services and applications, as well as migration and demography. Before joining the European Commission, he spent 17 years in the private sector of electronic communications in Romania, being in charge with operations of the infrastructure associated with the radio and fixed networks, business continuity planning, security risk assessment and crisis management. Previously, he held various positions in the Romanian public administration in the area of regulations for Information and Communications Technologies and regional implementation of Government policies. Mr. Chirondojan holds a degree as Engineer in Electronics and Telecommunications, at Polytechnic University of Bucharest, Romania and an MBA in “Economies in Transition and Managing Global Companies”, at Vienna University of Economics and Business – WU Wien, Austria.

Yohann Bénard is Amazon’s Public Policy Director EU, digital. He started his career in blue chip French governmental bodies, serving as judge with the Council of State, then advisor to the Prime Minister and deputy chief of staff to Economy & Finance Minister Christine Lagarde. Before joining Amazon, Yohann held senior business and corporate roles in the telecom industry (Alcatel-Lucent, Nokia).

Thierry Lefort is a Director based in Helsinki, focusing on TMT. He joined Booz & Company in 2008, and has since worked in Western and Eastern Europe, US, Middle East, Russia, and in Helsinki since 2019. MSc in Electrical Engineering from ESEO, France & MBA from RSM, Rotterdam School of Management, concentration in Marketing & Finance.

Isabella Poldrugo is Deputy Head of Unit the European Commission – Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space (DEFIS), responsible for EU Space Policy.  Objective of the unit is to design and ensure a coherent and overarching EU Space policy, including regulatory aspects and to foster an innovative and globally competitive EU Space ecosystem.

Isabella joined the Commission in 2019, where she worked as policy officer in the Unit dealing with space policy in the Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space (DG DEFIS).

Before, she spent ten years in the European Parliament as policy advisor to Members of the European Parliament, dealing with dossiers on energy, industry and trade. She served also as policy advisor to the Italian Minister of Defence and to the Undersecretary of State for Defence.

Torben has a Master of Science degree in Mechanical/Aeronautical Engineering, from
Aalborg University, Denmark. His career path in ESA started in Spacecraft Structural
Engineering, then leading a group of European engineers working with- and at NASA on the
development of a manned spaceflight vehicle, followed by some years in technical
management positions such as Section Head and Division Head in the Technical directorate.
Torben became Head of the Mechanical Department in 2016, and as of January 2022 took
the position as acting Director of the Technology, Engineering and Quality Directorate and
Head of the ESA ESTEC establishment, based in Noordwijk The Netherlands

Marco Folino is the CEO of Spaceopal Gmbh since June 2020.

Graduated in Electronic Engineering with a Master of Science in Electronic Engineering, he began his professional career in 1985 as an analyst/programmer.

In 1987 he joined Datamat Spa. After fulfilling a number of strategic operational and managerial roles in different market domains, in 1998 he was appointed as Head of Meteorology  & Environment Unit.

From 2004-2010, under Datamat before and Elsag Datamat then, he was the Head of a number of business units for Space & Environment  (including Director of Dataspazio SpA and Elsag Datamat Space Business Unit).

As in 2011 Elsag Datamat Space Business Unit was merged into Telespazio SpA, he took up the position of Head of Satellite Systems & Applications Italian Business Unit.

In 2013 was appointed as Director of Satellite Systems and Applications Business Unit with responsibilities at transnational level.

In January 2017 was nominated CEO of Telespazio UK.

Fredrik was appointed as Inmarsat’s Chief Strategy Officer in June 2021, reporting to the company’s CEO, Rajeev Suri. A highly accomplished Strategy and Corporate Development Director, he has a proven track record of delivering substantial added shareholder value for companies across a range of industry sectors with a core focus on aviation and transport.

Prior to joining Inmarsat, Fredrik was a UK-based managing director of Teneo, the global CEO advisory firm and, from 2012-2019, was Head of Strategy and M&A at easyJet.

At easyJet, he was responsible to the Management Board across a broad strategy agenda and M&A execution, which included the acquisition of parts of Air Berlin, securing key airport slots for the multinational airline group and the company’s investment in the travel search engine DoHop.

Fredrik was also a Vice President of Investment Banking in the UK at Credit Suisse, the leading global investment bank, from 2006-2012.  As a senior member of the team that applied Credit Suisse’s proprietary HOLT valuation framework, he helped to deepen client relationships through strategic and valuation advisory services across M&A and equity capital markets transactions.

From 2003-2006, he was a corporate finance and strategy specialist at McKinsey & Co in London.

Fredrik has an MSc in both Electrical Engineering and Financial Economics.

Benoît Deper is the founder and the CEO of Aerospacelab. Prior to founding Aerospacelab in 2018, he has worked as a Research Associate at the IMD Business School, Lead Engineer and CTO of Swiss Space Systems, Young Graduate Trainee in the Systems Engineering directorate at the European Space Agency.

Olivier has a long-standing experience and a strong network in the European space policy sector, at the crossroads of the private and the public sector.

He has been part of the Belgian delegation to the ESA Council and also advising the Belgian Permanent Representation on space matters, under the authority of E. Beka, High representative of Belgium for space policy. Olivier then moved to Eurospace, as Head of the Brussels Office until 2014, when he has been hired by Thales Alenia Space as director for EU affairs.

Aarti Holla-Maini has been Secretary General of the GSOA (formerly ESOA) since 2004. She is a Member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Space, the WEF Global 5G Coalition Network and the WEF Essential Digital Infrastructure & Services Network.

Under Aarti’s leadership, GSOA & its member CEOs lead the effort to showcase the benefits of satellite communications for a more inclusive and secure society – vital to bridging the world’s digital divide, achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and realizing the 5G ecosystem.

Since joining the association, Aarti has led the expansion of GSOA from a European association to one that represents the interests of 29 global and regional satellite operators. She reports directly to their Chief Executives.

Aarti has 25 years’ experience in the aerospace industry, starting at Daimler-Benz Aerospace/EADS (now Airbus) in Germany. In 2000, she moved to Brussels, representing Airbus interests in the European satellite navigation program: Galileo.

Aarti holds a Masters of Business Administration from HEC, France & Stern Business School, NYC, USA. She qualified as Solicitor of the Supreme Court in the UK in 1995, holding a 2:1 graded LLB Hons Law with German Law degree from King’s College, University of London & the University of Passau, Germany. She is also an alumnus of the International Space University. Aarti is of British-Indian origin and holds British and Belgian nationalities. She lives in Brussels, has 3 children and speaks 5 languages.

Dominic works on frequency regulatory and international topics at the European Commission in the directorate general responsible for the EU Space Programme, DG DEFIS. He joined the Commission and the Galileo programme in 2007 after working in the UK for Ofcom and the Radiocommunications Agency on satellite navigation and mobile satellite topics. His work now encompasses all components of the EU Space Programme, including Galileo, EGNOS, Copernicus and the new Secure Connectivity initiative.

Christophe Grudler is a French Member of the European Parliament (MEP), member of the Renew Europe group.

Historian and journalist by training, his political commitment started at an early stage of his career. He is particularly involved at the local level in his hometown, Belfort, where he has been elected as a local representative several times.

Within the European Parliament, he is Vice-Coordinator of the ITRE Committee (Industry, research and energy) for the Renew Europe group. He is also a member of the Foreign Affairs (AFET) and Security and Defence (SEDE) committees. Furthermore, he is Vice President of the Sky & Space Intergroup of the European Parliament.

MEP Grudler is particularly involved on energy and industry related topics, as well as on space and defence policies. He has been appointed as rapporteur for the European Parliament on the Initiative report on Energy System Integration and recently on the future European secure connectivity. He is also shadow rapporteur for his group on the European Industrial Strategy, the revision of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) and on the European Space Programme.

Antonio Abad (Almería, Spain, 1963) holds a Master of Sciences in Aeronautical Engineering
from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and is graduated in Senior Management in the
‘General Management Program (GMP)’ and in ‘Digital Transformation’ from IESE Business
School. He completed his training with different Leadership, Talent Development, and
Organization and People Empowerment courses, also at IESE, Navarra University.

In addition, he has been professionally recognized becoming an academician at the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) and the Academie de l’Air and l‘Espace (AAS). He is also a senior member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and the Institute of Electric and Electronic Engineers (IEEE).

After initiating his professional activities at Telefónica Sistemas in 1989, from 1991 up to date he has developed his career at HISPASAT in different engineering and management responsibilities. Since 2003 he is the Chief Technical Officer of HISPASAT, being responsible for the definition and implementation of satellite systems, launchers, control centers, and ground stations, as well as their operation and control. In 2019, he also took over the responsibilities for the development of the future space infrastructure of HISPASAT, analyzing from High Altitude Platforms to Cubesats, Software Defined Satellites, and Constellations. Since 2020 he is promoting the development of Space Quantum Communications, with the first application in Quantum Key Distribution, and the development of a Common Lunar Communications infrastructure.

He has been a speaker at numerous conferences and seminars, including Washington Satellite and World Satellite Business Week in Paris. He has been the Director of the 9 editions of the ‘HISPASAT Summit on Space Telecommunications’ in the ‘Menéndez Pelayo International University’.

A mathematics graduate specialized in programming, he began his working career in 1997 participating in various tasks of software development from developer to software architect for telecommunications projects. In 2002 he joined GMV, working since then in the satellite control-center area, where he has had different roles till the current role of Director of GMV’s Satellite Control and Mission Planning Unit.

During this period GMV became the world’s leading supplier of ground control systems for commercial satellites, and one of the major GS software providers for ESA and EUMETSAT

In this Role, he manages the vision of the products portfolio evolution.

Ruy Pinto is currently the Deputy Chief Technology Officer at SES leading various technology initiatives in the company. In particular Ruy is responsible for managing the SES HTS Programme, including satellites, infrastructure, platforms and integration.

Ruy worked at Inmarsat from 1990 to 2016, in various technical and managerial roles.  His last position at Inmarsat, from December 2013, was Group Chief Operations Officer, responsible for all operational functions at Inmarsat: satellite and network operations, operations engineering, customer services, service assurance, Group IT, partner platforms, business applications, including billing, plus navigation activities. As part of his remit Ruy also established a Digital Office for Inmarsat, responsible for the company digital strategy and digital commercial models. 

Ruy Pinto started as a satellite operations software engineer at Inmarsat in 1990 and held a number of technical project management functions until 1999. In 2000, Ruy Pinto became Director of Satellite Operations and Navigation with responsibility for control of the fleet of Inmarsat satellites and development and maintenance of all satellite control functionality. From 2009 to 2011, as Vice President of Satellite and Network Operations Ruy Pinto managed network and satellite operations, spectrum management and yield optimisation functions for the Inmarsat product portfolio plus navigation services. From 2012 to 2013, Ruy Pinto was the Group Chief Technology Officer responsible for all engineering, satellite and network operational functions across Inmarsat and its subsidiaries. As part of his role Ruy Pinto has spear headed a number of Inmarsat commercial initiatives such as the company involvement on Galileo, Alphasat and other high profile projects requiring public funding. Ruy Pinto also served on the Boards of INVSAT, Inmarsat Navigation Ventures and PT-ISAT, fully owned subsidiaries of Inmarsat plc. Finally Ruy was a founding Board Member of the Space Data Association (SDA), a not for profit organisation established in the Isle of Mann for improving the safety of flight for satellite operators.

His external positions portfolio included two years as the Chairman of UKSpace, the UK space industry trade association, and four years as a Director and VP of Space for the Association of Defence, Security and Aerospace Companies (ADS). Finally, Ruy Pinto is a Non-Executive Director of the Space Application Catapult, established by the UK government to foster the development of the space sector and space applications in the UK and an SSPI (Society of Satellite Professionals International) Board member.

Previously, Ruy Pinto worked with VSAT data communication networks and data communications software as the project manager for the deployment large scale VSAT networks in Brazil. Ruy was also the manager of the satellite software control segment for the first generation of Brazilian satellites. Ruy Pinto has a background in electronics and satellite data communications having graduated in Electronics Engineering in 1981, followed by a post-graduate degree in Digital Telecommunications Systems, both from the Rio de Janeiro Catholic University.

Ruy Pinto was born in Brazil and became an UK national in 1998. Ruy is married with two daughters.

Susana Villanueva is currently leading the Thales Alenia Space team in charge of the Union Secure Connectivity programme. She joined the company which became Thales Alenia Space back in 1996, after a fruitful internship in the French Guyana Space Center. This great experience confirmed her wish to work in the space industry.

Since then, Susana has had different responsibilities in the company, across various sectors such as integration and tests, strategic marketing, sales, and product policy. Lately, Susana was in charge of the definition, development and program management of Space Inspire, the new Software Defined Satellite solution from Thales Alenia Space.

 In 2014, Susana led the team that won the Gold Award and the Thales Employees Special Award at the Thales Group Innovation Awards.

Susana is a Spanish citizen and benefited from the ERASMUS European exchange program, which allowed her to complete her telecommunications engineering studies in France. She holds a Master of Science degree from the Ecole Supérieure d’Ingénieurs en Electronique et Electrotechique (ESIEE Paris), with specialty in microwave frequencies.

Susana is member of the “Elles bougent” association, which objective is to attract high school girls and young student women to engineering careers.

Elodie Viau took up duty as the Director of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications (D/TIA), and Head of ECSAT, Harwell, UK, on 1 September 2020.

Elodie Viau was born in Angers, France. She gained her MSc degree in telecommunications from Télécom SudParis in 2007, an MSc in Space Studies and Management from the International Space University in 2008 and an MBA from the Open University in the UK in 2018. 

For the past 12 years, Elodie Viau has worked for SES, one of the world’s leading satellite owners and operators, based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg. She began her career with SES on a two-year Leadership Development Programme, working in a variety of roles on four missions within SES subsidiaries in Luxembourg, the Netherlands and USA.

In 2010, Ms Viau moved to SES Technology, Space Systems and Operations, in Toulouse, France, as a Satellite Programmes Senior Engineer. Here she served as Deputy Programme Manager for six satellites (ASTRA 1N, 2F, 2E, 2G, 5B and SES-6) built by Airbus Space. Between 2014 and 2018, she was the Programme Manager for the SES-10, SES-12 and SES-14 satellites built by Airbus Space.

In 2018, she moved back to Luxembourg to become Senior Manager and then Director of SES New Space Segment Development and, until recently, she was Vice-President for SES Technology Programme Management. 

Martin Kupka was born in Jilemnice, where he graduated the local grammar school. He continued his studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Charles University, in the field of Journalism and Mass Communication. During his studies, he was already working as an editor and presenter of Czech Radio 3 – the Vltava station. Between 2000 and 2002 he worked as a spokesperson for the City of Prague.

After a year-long break in the private sector, he returned to work in public administration as the spokesperson for the Central Bohemian Region, where he was responsible for communication with the public as well as presentation of the region in terms of tourism. In 2009 he was the primary spokesperson and manager of the Communication Department of the Ministry of Transport. As the manager of the media section and spokesperson for ODS, he took part in their 2010 parliamentary election campaign. He was also involved in all the following campaigns.

In June of 2010 he became the spokesperson of the Czech Government. After the victory of ODS in the local elections in 2010, he took on the role of mayor of the Líbeznice municipality. He defended his mandate in the 2014 and 2018 elections. After success in the regional elections in 2016, he worked for a year in the Council of the Central Bohemian Region. He was responsible for the area of healthcare. In 2020 he returned to the Council of the Central Bohemian Region in the role of Statutory Deputy Governor for Road Transport. In the autumn of 2017 he was elected a Member of Parliament of the Czech Republic. He defended the seat in the 2021 elections.

In January 2014, he was elected by delegates of the 24^th Congress of ODS as a deputy leader; he defended this position at the 25^th, 26^th and 27^th Congresses in 2016, 2018 and 2020, respectively.

Martin Kupka is married and has two children. He speaks English and his hobbies include books, music and tourism.

Angus Lapsley became NATO Assistant Secretary General for Defence Policy and Planning in September 2022. Within NATO’s International Staff, Angus leads the team responsible for the Alliance’s capability and force planning, posture, plans, and a range of defence policy questions, including nuclear issues.

After studying English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford, Angus spent over 30 years as a diplomat for the UK. He served as Director General Strategy & International in the Ministry of Defence, as Ambassador to the European Union’s Political and Security Committee, and worked in the private offices of two Prime Ministers.
He is married with two adult children.

Paul Adamson is chairman of Forum Europe and Forum Global and founder of Encompass an online magazine and discussion space dedicated to covering the European Union and the UK’s place in the world. He is also the chairman of the EU-UK Forum and a member of the Independent Commission on UK-EU Relations..

Paul is a member of the Centre for European Reform’s advisory board and Rand Europe’s Council of Advisors. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Policy Institute, King’s College London, a Senior Adviser at the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center and a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Britain and Europe at the University of Surrey. He is a patron of the University Association of Contemporary European Studies (UACES) and a Fellow of the UK Academy of Social Sciences.

In 2012, Paul was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) “for services to promoting understanding of the European Union” and in 2016 he was made a Chevalier in the Ordre national du Mérite by the French government.

Representing the voice of the European space industry for almost five years as Policy Manager at ASD-Eurospace, Charles Galland has developed a broad expertise in all European space-related policies issues.

Isabella Poldrugo is Deputy Head of Unit the European Commission – Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space (DEFIS), responsible for EU Space Policy.  Objective of the unit is to design and ensure a coherent and overarching EU Space policy, including regulatory aspects and to foster an innovative and globally competitive EU Space ecosystem.

Isabella joined the Commission in 2019, where she worked as policy officer in the Unit dealing with space policy in the Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space (DG DEFIS).

Before, she spent ten years in the European Parliament as policy advisor to Members of the European Parliament, dealing with dossiers on energy, industry and trade. She served also as policy advisor to the Italian Minister of Defence and to the Undersecretary of State for Defence.

Michal Brichta is a co-founder of the newly-established Slovak Space Office and the director of its Industry Branch working under the Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency (SARIO). In 2019 he initiated a new strategic approach to the comprehensive development of national space industry capabilities. Building on this approach, his team works today to support the further development of the Slovak space sector and its internationalisation with a focus on full utilisation of the country’s strong industrial and R&D potential as well as on the 21st century‘s newspace trends. It is also the official national contact point for foreign space agencies, offices, associations as well as businesses and research entities. Michal Brichta is a member of the Slovak delegation to ESA and he participates in the EUSPA administrative board.

Peng is Vice-President of Government Affairs and Policy at OneWeb, where he is responsible of the company’s international regulatory and policy issues with focus on Europe and Asia-Pacific.

Peng is an experienced telecom executive in both mobile and satellite industries, advising governments and telecom industry globally on public policy, regulatory and spectrummatters.

Prior to joining OneWeb, Peng was responsible for the GSMA’s global campaign ensuring optimal licensing conditions for mobile operators. He was leading a team of policy expertsacross all developing markets to engage policy makers and regulators and advocated for industry’s best practices on telecom policy.

Peng has an engineering background and hold an MS in Telecommunication from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne, and also an Executive MBA from London Business School. Besides English, he speaks Mandarin and French fluently. 

Ulli Leibnitz is Head of Space Germany within CGI Deutschland and has more than 25 years of international experience in the space industry. Within CGI, he is also the Chairman of the EU Space Pillar to coordinate the CGI Space activities across the EU member states. He joined CGI in 2020 via a merger with SCISYS Deutschland, where he was a Managing Director at that time.

Ulli Leibnitz holds a master in Aerospace Engineering from the University of the German Armed Forces Munich and served as airforce officer in the German Armed Forces before joining the Space industry. In connection with his professional engagement, he has been continuously active in national and international industrial policy committees to foster national and European space activities.

Geraldine Naja is Director of Commercialisation, Industry and Procurement at the European Space Agency (ESA). A French national, Geraldine holds over 30 years of experience, expertise and knowledge within the European space sector, in programmatic, managerial and strategy development positions. 

She is responsible for elaborating and implementing ESA’s industrial and procurement policies, conducting negotiations with industry, and managing procurement for all the Agency’s activities and programmes. Furthermore, Geraldine is responsible for enabling and boosting European space commercialisation ambitions through innovative tools and partnerships.

Geraldine holds an MSc in Engineering and Propulsion and an MSc in Political Sciences, from the French École Polytechnique and the École Nationale Supérieure de Techniques Avancées (ENSTA), and the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) respectively.

Within various universities and institutes, Geraldine carries out teaching assignments about space policy, with the aim of inspiring future generations.

Guillaume de La Brosse is currently Head of Unit in charge of space innovation, start-ups and economics in the Commission (Direction-General for Defence Industry and Space). Previously, Guillaume was assistant to the Director-General.

Guillaume joined the Commission in 2016, as member of the Commission’s think-tank and member of the UK Task Force, where he dealt with security, defence and space.

Before joining the Commission, Guillaume worked in the European Defence Agency as assistant to the Executive Director (2011-2016) and as pol-mil adviser in the French Permanent representation to the EU (2006-2011).

Born in 1978, François Alter graduated from “Ecole Normale Supérieure” Paris and is a “Corps des Mines” chief engineer. He holds a PhD on applied mathematics with works on satellite image processing chain in collaboration with CNES. He is the author of 20+ scientific and technical publications and patents.

He has a strong focus in innovation, public policies and technologies. After few years in aerospace (Sogeclair Aerospace) & software (Microsoft, DxO Labs) companies, he became in charge of the Paris Region industrial development. Then he joined the French Ministry of Higher Education & Research as Head of the technology transfer department, and after as the Science, Space and Innovation Advisor of the Minister. After working as an investment director at the Prime Minister Office, he joined the French Ministry of Finance & Economy to participate to the creation of a service with national authority on competitive intelligence, while also founding a digital startup.

François Alter has joined the French Space Agency (CNES) since 2017 where he is in charge of venture and business development, being involved in strategic private-public projects of the agency.

Appointed Advisor to the President and CEO of CNES and member of its executive committee, he takes up his duties in April 2021.

The Rt Hon. Lord Willetts FRS is the President of the Resolution Foundation. He served as the Member of Parliament for Havant (1992-2015), as Minister for Universities and Science (2010-2014) and previously worked at HM Treasury and the No. 10 Policy Unit.

He has held a range of Chair and Board positions across the space and science sector, including Chair of the British Science Association, member of the Space Policy Advisory Board for EU External Action Service and of the ESA Expert Group on the Future of Space in Europe. He is currently Chair of the UKSA Steering Board and serves on the Board of UKRI. He is an Honorary Fellow of Nuffield College and Chancellor of the University of Leicester.

Harald Gruber is head of the Digital Infrastructure Division at the Projects Directorate of the European Investment Bank based in Luxembourg. He oversees a team of sector experts involved in sector and technology analysis as well as project appraisal. He also works on the Bank’s business strategy with respect to financing of digital infrastructure, semiconductors, space, industrial policy and the economics of digital transformation in general. He has also contributed in defining new financial instruments for digital infrastructure and services jointly with European Commission, national promotional banks and private sector. 

Harald has also a considerable record of accomplishment in scientific publication. Recent work is on formulating proposals for a digital industrial policy . More in general, he has published articles in refereed journals as well as books. He is on the editorial board of academic journals. He has been also professor at Bocconi University (Milan) for telecommunications economics. 

Harald Gruber holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the London School of Economics.

Laurent is currently the Head of Strategy, Corporate and New Business Development of Airbus Defence and Space for Space Systems. He formally was the Head of Constellation and Future solution for Space Systems Marketing and Sales. Laurent leads a trans-national team based in France, Germany, in the UK. The aim of his organization is to define and implement the strategy for Airbus Space, bringing new solutions and innovation on the market.

He is also Member of the Board of Airbus OneWeb Satellites LLC which designs and manufactures constellation satellites amongst other opportunities. Laurent Jaffart holds a Masters in National Resources Strategy from the National Defense University in Washington DC USA (2013), two Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the former ESC Reims (Reims Management School – France) and Dublin City University (2002) and a Bachelor of Sciences (Hons) in European Business and Technology from the University of Brighton in the UK (2000).