David Avino
CEO, Argotec
David Avino is the founder and CEO of Argotec. He started his career in the Italian Army Special Forces before transitioning to work as an astronaut trainer in Europe and the U.S., where he also founded a company. In 2008, he returned to Italy and founded Argotec, embarking on a journey through space technology filled with remarkable people, challenges, and successes.
Antonio Bartoloni
Head of Space and Aerospace Policy Office, Presidency of the Council of Ministers
Massimo Comparini
Managing Director Space Business Unit, Leonardo
Augusto Cramarossa
Head of Strategic Coordination Office, ASI
Augusto Cramarossa is an aeronautical engineer with 40 years of experience in space activities, programmes
and strategy.
He studied and graduated at Sapienza University of Rome.
He worked 15 years for Industry until 2001 (Italspazio, Avio – former BPD Difesa e Spazio – and Alenia Spazio
– today Thales Alenia Space Italy) where his activity covered engineering and programme management of
space contracts (ASI and ESA).
In 2001 he joined ASI and in this frame he led various ASI organizational Units (National and International
Relations, Strategic perspectives and European Affairs). Today is the head of the ASI Strategic Coordination
Office.
He has also been appointed as governmental representative in several technical and strategic fora,
committees and Working Groups at national, ESA and EU level.
Luca Del Monte
Head of Commercialization Department, ESA
Luca del Monte is a senior executive at the European Space Agency (ESA), with extensive experience in strategic development, industrial policy, and deep-tech program management. After holding several positions across the space sector — in both industry and public institutions in Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands — he joined ESA Headquarters in France, where he has taken on roles of increasing responsibility. In this capacity, he was among the early pioneers in Europe in the fields of space situational awareness and space cybersecurity.
He currently serves as Head of the Commercialisation Department at ESA, leading the Agency’s mission to support European space entrepreneurs in their journey toward commercialisation and sustainable expansion in international markets. His department provides a comprehensive range of tools, from business incubation and technology transfer to investor engagement and market access facilitation.
Luca graduated with highest honors in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” and continued his education at the Centre des Hautes Études de l’Armement at the École Militaire in Paris.
Alongside his role at ESA, he is professor of Space Commercialisation at the Doctoral School of the Politecnico di Bari, and teaches Space Entrepreneurship at the Univserity La Sorbonne in Paris and at the LUISS Business School in Amsterdam. He is also co-founder and board member of the European Centre for Space Economy and Commerce (ECSECO), based in Vienna.
Additionally, Luca serves as a Senior Officer in the Reserve of the Italian Navy and as advisor on space policy to the Office of the Italian Minister of Defence.
Giuseppe Lupoli
Director of Aeronautical Armaments and Airworthiness Directorate, Italian Ministry of Defense
Annamaria Monterisi
Director, Institutional Communication and External Relations, ASI
An experienced journalist and communication manager, she has been Director of Communications and External Relations at the Italian Space Agency since 2022.
Over her 35-year career, she has developed solid expertise in creative writing, editing, communication planning, event management, and media relations, while working at the Apulian Agency for Technology and Innovation, IMAST – the Italian Cluster for innovative materials, the Italian Ministry for the Innovation of the Public Administration, and Fiera del Levante.
After graduating with honors in Political Science from the University of Bari, she earned a master’s degree in Economic Development from the Italian Union of Chambers of Commerce in Rome and a master’s degree in Institutional Communication from the University of Rome Tor Vergata. She passed the professional qualification exam as a journalist and studied to pursue a career as a public manager.
Since 2022 she is Italian delegate at the Advisory Committee on Communication of the European Space Agency, that she has been chairing since 2025.
In 2024 she became member of the Board of Advisors of AstroAid Foundation, whose mission is to democratize healthcare access through space technology and innovation.
Chiara Pertosa
CEO, Sitael
Chiara Pertosa, a 45-year-old third-generation entrepreneur with a degree in economics from the University of Bari.
From a very young age, she has been actively involved in the management of Angel, a family holding company focused on the development of high-tech companies in the railway, digital mechatronics, and aerospace sectors.
Since 2020, she has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Polytechnic University of Bari.
In 2020, she is President of SITAEL, in 2022 she becomes CEO.
In 2024, she received the Italian Quality Award from the Leonardo Committee for her contribution to confirming the Italian technological excellence in the aerospace world.
That same year, she was honored with the Innovation Award – EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2024, recognizing her entrepreneurial vision and strong commitment to innovation in the aerospace sector.
Chiara Pertosa is also a member of the Board of Directors of MER MEC SpA and a member of the Board of Directors of the Apulian Aerospace Technology District.
Luigi Riggio
Head of Space and Aerospace Policy Units, Office of the Military Advisor, Presidency of the Council of Ministers
Luigi Riggio, Head of the Space and Aerospace policies unit within the office of the Military Advisor to the President of the Council of Ministries.
Colonel Luigi RIGGIO, born in Palermo, Sicily, on February 28, 1966, is an Italian Air Force pilot with an extensive operational background on tanker and AWACS aircraft.
He has served in numerous staff positions within the Air Force Staff, the Defence Staff and the Minister of Defence cabinet Office, dealing with military operations policy, crisis management, international cooperation, civil-military cooperation as well as space operations and policies.
In particular, from 2015 to 2019, he has supported the Minister of Defence in his/her participation to the Inter-Ministerial Committee for space policies and aerospace research.
From 2019 to 2021 he has managed the Italian Air force space policies in the Air Staff.
Since May 2021 he is holding the current position supporting the Military Advisor in his role as Secretary of the Inter-Ministerial Committee. Col. Riggio is also part of the Italian delegations to the European Union Space Working Party and to the European Space Agency Council.
In October 2022 he has been nominated by the Italian Air Force as Chairman of the Criptaliae Spaceport Scientific Committee.
Elisabetta Rosafio
Full Professor of Navigation Law and Aerospace Law, Department of Law, Rome University Tor Vergata
Elisabetta Rosafio is a full professor of Maritime and Transport Law in the Department of Law at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, where she also teaches Aerospace Law.
She is the author of two monographs and a manual on aviation and aerospace law, as well as over seventy papers published in leading Italian and international legal journals. She has participated as a speaker and session chair at numerous national and international conferences.
Her studies range from maritime, air and land transport contracts (transport contracts, carrier liability, techniques for protecting the parties, charter and lease agreements, etc.) and aerospace law to infrastructure financing and management systems, strategies for reducing transport emissions and issues relating to the use of alternative fuels, technical nautical services (with a particular focus on pilotage contracts) and immigration by sea.
Luca Rossettini
CEO, D-Orbit
Luca is a visionary entrepreneur, seeking a profitable and sustainable expansion of the humankind in space. In 2009 Luca won a Fulbright scholarship and in 2010 obtained a Certificate in Technology Entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley, California. After an internship position at NASA Ames Research Center, Luca Rossettini went back to Italy and founded D-Orbit, developing a solution for Space Logistics & Transportation.
Angelo Vallerani
Chief of Institutional Relations - OHB Italia SpA
Luca Voglino
Managing Director of Investimenti SpA, holding company of Fiera Roma srl
