Roberto Aceti
CEO, Ohb Italia
After graduating in Aeronautical Engineering at the Politecnico di Milano and a brief experience at Aermacchi, Roberto Aceti joined ESA – European Space Agency in 1989, where he worked in the Dutch operational centre as Project Manager and Programme Manager for ten years.
In 1999, he joined Compagnia Generale dello Spazio (now OHB Italia) as Marketing Director and, within a decade, reached the company’s top executive leadership.
Since 2013, he has served as Chief Executive Officer of OHB Italia SpA, which has been part of the German OHB SE Group since 2009.
David Avino
CEO E Founder, Argotec
David Avino is the founder and CEO of Argotec, an internationally recognized Italian company and
a leader in the design, production, and control of small satellites and their subsystems.
He holds degrees in Computer Science and Strategic Studies, attended the Military Academy of
Modena, and served and served as Army Officer in the Airborne Brigade. From 2002 to 2008, he
worked at the European Space Agency (ESA), contributed to Shuttle, Soyuz, and long-duration
missions, and collaborating with NASA and Roscosmos programs.
In 2008, he founded Argotec, which quickly gained international recognition for its
unconventional and visionary approach, reflected both in its business model and technological
solutions, driving landmark innovations and achieving key milestones for the entire Space
Industry. The company has received the NASA Award in 2016, the AIAA Mission of the Year 2023
with LICIACube, and in 2022 became the only company in the world to have two operational
satellites simultaneously in deep space.
In 2024, Avino inaugurated the SpacePark: a smart factory and strategic innovation hub with an
all-in-house and LAB2FAB approach. He also strengthened the company’s presence in the United
States with a new production facility in Florida and telecommunication team in California.
In 2025, Avino and his team set two additional records: the launch of HEO Pathfinder, the first
satellite of the Italian Government’s Earth Observation Program, and the simultaneous launch of
seven satellites for the same constellation – a European first, highlighting the excellence of the
Italian Space Industry worldwide. On May 3, the second batch of the IRIDE program was
successfully launched, bringing the HEO constellation to over half of its planned deployment, with
a target of 25 satellites in orbit.
Avino serves on several boards of directors, has been cited by Forbes as one of Italy’s five most
innovative space leaders, and is recognized as a Top Voice of the New Space Economy, with a
crucial influence in both institutional and media spheres.
Alessandro Balossino
Head of Research and Development, Argotec
Alessandro Balossino, a roboticist by training, has over 14 years of international experience in the space sector across Europe and the United States. His career has spanned planetary rovers, descent and landing systems, and microsatellites. At Argotec, he leads a team of more than 30 engineers dedicated to advancing technologies for small satellites and human spaceflight.
Antonio Bartoloni
Head of Space and Aerospace Policy Office, Presidency of the Council of Ministers
Stefano Beco
Aerospace Sector Coordinator, AIAD - Italian Enterprises Federation for Aerospace, Defence and Security
After graduating in Electronical Engineering at the Università Tor Vergata in Rome in 1988, Stefano started his career as software engineer in Datamat.
In 2011 he joined Telespazio, managing, among others, the VEGA Launcher flight software development.
In 2017 he entered the CTO team as responsible for Innovation Plan for Telespazio group.
In 2023 he was appointed VP for National and European Funded Programmes.
Since April 1, 2025, he is Aerospace Sector Coordinator for AIAD, the Italian Enterprises Federation for Aerospace, Defence and Security.
Marco Calabrò
Head of Department for Enterprises Policies, MIMIT - Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy
Since 2025, he has served as Head of the Department for Enterprise Policies at the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy.
Previously, he served as Chief of the Minister’s Technical Secretariat under Minister Urso.
He has held the positions of Director of the Office responsible for Enterprise Digitalisation Policy and Director of the Office for Business Crisis Management. He also served as Deputy Head of the Technical Secretariat to four Ministers.
Earlier in his career, he worked at public research institutions and in policy research offices.
Alberto Carboni
Aerospace Adviser, Confindustria
Alberto Carboni is Aerospace Adviser at Confindustria, where he leads policy and advocacy for the aerospace, defense and security sectors. After earning a degree in electrical engineering and working as a researcher at Politecnico di Milano, he held roles of increasing responsibility at MBDA, most recently in the development of new air-to-air and space products and in international cooperation on the GCAP programme.
Matteo Coletta
Head of Sector - Study Centre and New Space Economy, ASI
Expert in economic and financial dynamics applied to the space sector, Matteo Coletta currently serves as Head of the “Study Center and New Space Economy” Sector within the Strategic Coordination Office of the Presidency of the Italian Space Agency (ASI). With extensive experience in supporting the space-related startup ecosystem, he coordinates national and international strategic initiatives aimed at fostering innovation and the development of new industrial players. Representing ASI at the OECD Space Forum and serving as an Advisor to the ESA Industrial Policy Committee (IPC), Matteo operates at the intersection of alternative finance, institutional policy, and business support instruments. His work focuses on strengthening the New Space Economy through incubation and acceleration programs (such as ESA BICs and SpaceFounders), supporting technology transfer, and analyzing the economic and financial dynamics of the national space economy. Furthermore, he serves as the coordinator of the Italian Space Agency team dedicated to project on the Italian Space Economy Satellite Account lead by ISTAT.
Massimo Claudio Comparini
Managing Director
Space Division, 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 Space Resilience,
ESA
Senior executive with over 20 years of international experience in space policy, programme development, industrial strategy, and innovation.
At the European Space Agency (ESA), I lead Space Resilience activities, developing next-generation dual-use space capabilities to strengthen Europe’s security, strategic autonomy, and resilience. My work focuses on resilient space architectures, critical infrastructure protection, interoperability, and cooperation with the European Union, national Ministries of Defence, security institutions, and industry.
Previously, as Head of ESA’s Commercialisation Department, I established and led one of Europe’s largest space commercialisation ecosystems, supporting startups, scale-ups, technology transfer, private investment, and industrial competitiveness through flagship initiatives including ESA BIC, Phi-LabNET, ScaleUp and ACCESS.
I am also Professor of Space Commercialisation at the Doctoral School of Bari Polytechnic and at the La Sorbonne Paris University, and Co-founder of the European Centre for Space Economy and Commerce (ECSECO).
I hold a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from Sapienza University of Rome, graduating with full marks, and completed executive education in defence acquisition and strategic management at the French Armaments Procurement Institute at the École Militaire in Paris.
Alongside my ESA responsibilities, I serve as Senior Officer in the Italian Navy Reserve and Senior Space Advisor to the Italian Minister of Defence, contributing to the development of national and European policies for space security and defence.
Mariangela Dejana
Director of the Government & Defense Business Unit at D-Orbit Group and former VP Public Affairs.
She has extensive experience in space policy, government relations, business development, and institutional affairs, gained across both the public and private sectors.
Prior to joining D-Orbit, she held as Space Expert to the Italian Undersecretary to the Prime Minister, in charge of national space policies.
She previously coordinated the activities of AIPAS (Italian Association of Space Companies), representing and supporting the growth of the Italian space industry ecosystem.Mariangela currently sits as Board Member of Planetek Italia, contributing to the company’s strategic development and governance.
Leonardo Gagliardi
President ASAS - Association for Space-based Applications and Services
Born in Rome on 25 September 1953.
On 17 December 1979 he graduated in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Studies of Rome La Sapienza.
Registered with the Order of Engineers of Rome since 1982
1984/1997 – Professional Technical Collaborator of the National Space Plan of the CNR, since 1988 Italian Space Agency (ASI).
1985/1988 – Seconded to the Space Office of the Ministry of Scientific and Technological Research.
1985-1997 Member of Italian Delegation in ESA.
1992-1996 Head of the WEU Study Management Team
In September 1997 he left the Italian Space Agency to continue his experience working as manager at the most important national space industries:
1997/2002 – Program Manager at Telespazio S.p.A..
2002/2003 – Marketing manager in Dataspazio S.p.A..
2003/2008 – Manager of Vitrociset S.p.A.; Area Manager for space programs.
2008/2011 – Manager of Rheinmetall Italia S.p.A. Director of Space Programs.
2011/2013 – Director of Telematic Solutions S.p.A.; Director of Space Programs.
2014/2015 – Manager of CGS S.p.A. (today OHB Italia S.p.A.); Marketing Manager.
2015/2016 – Director of the Consortium Antares scarl.
Since 2016 Freelancer, consultant for national business development and international Space and Defense projects.
Since 2019 – founder and CEO of Space for Life srl, a SME for space programs.
2022 – 2025 Vice President ASAS-Association for Space-based Applications & Services
Since 2025 – President ASAS-Association for Space-based Applications & Services
Gianluigi Greco
Rector of the University of Calabria
Gianluigi Greco is a Full Professor of Computer Science at the University of Calabria, where he serves as Rector for the six-year term 2025–2031. With over twenty years of experience in the field of Artificial Intelligence, Prof. Greco has received some of the most prestigious scientific awards and honors in the sector, including the EurAI Fellowship, the IJCAI Distinguished Paper Award, the Kurt Gödel Fellowship Award, the Marco Somalvico Award, and the IJCAI-JAIR Best Paper Award. He served as President of the Italian Association for Artificial Intelligence during the 2022–2025 four-year term and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Italian Society for the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. Since 2023, he has been the coordinator of the Committee established within the Presidency of the Council of Ministers for updating the national strategy on Artificial Intelligence. Since 2024, he has been a member of the Joint Advisory Group on AI, an Italo-Canadian advisory group on AI. Since 2025, he has been a member of the Commission for the study of AI applications to regional affairs and autonomies, established within the competent Ministry. Since 2026, he has served as a member of the Coordination Panel for the internationalization of AI and Quantum companies, established within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, as well as the Italian representative for the GovAI Challenge under the G7 AI Network (GAIN) initiative.
Lorenzo Lo Cascio
Policy Expert - Lazio Region, Economic Development Directorate
Policy advisor for economic and territorial development, research and innovation, financial engineering, energy and the environment, technology transfer, and the exploitation of research results. He has provided support to over thirty governments and public institutions at the regional, national, and international levels (EU and non-EU). Since 2014 to date, he has been focusing on the design, implementation, and monitoring of the Lazio Region’s Smart Specialization Strategy, with a particular concentration on the actions supported by the 2014-2020 and 2021-27 ERDF programs. From 2014 to 2018, he served as the technical representative of the Conference of the Regions in the Steering Committee on Space and Aerospace Policies at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. Since the institution of the Interministerial Committee for Space and Aerospace Policies (COMINT) at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (October 2018) until 2023, he has been appointed as the Delegate of the Conference of Regions in the COMINT Operational Structure.
Maria Cristina Lupi
Head of Product Policy & Open Innovation – Leonardo Space Division
Maria Cristina is a system engineer currently in the Leonardo Space Division as Head of Product Policy & Open innovation, she joined Telespazio in July 1990 becoming part of the SAX project team. She was responsible for the design and development of the Satellite Control Centre. Until 1999, she contributed to the Artemis and SICRAL ground segment programmes, working on Control Centres, Mission Centres, Satellite Control Centres, and AIV ground segment activities. Also involved in the Galileo programme (Phases B1, B2 and C0), contributing to the Ground Segment definition, infrastructure requirements specification, security requirements definition, and the assessment of security impacts on Galileo Control System network elements. She led a team responsible for Satellite Ground Segment design and implementation from 2003 to 2008. In 2008–2009, she served as Project Manager for the ESA EDRS programme during Phases 0, A and B1. From 2009 to 2015, she was appointed Local Business Unit Manager for Italy within the transnational Business Unit Networks & Connectivity. In this role, she held full P&L responsibility at country level, overseeing contract management and project delivery, coordinating tender preparation, and leading a team of 25 Program Managers and 10 Project Managers. From mid-2009 to June 2019, she served as Head of the System Engineering Organizational Unit, reporting to the Chief Technical Officer. In July 2019, she joined e-GEOS as Head of the Engineering and Services Provisioning Unit. She was also responsible for the Industrial Planning Unit. In March 2023, she rejoined Telespazio within the Technology & Innovation organization, taking responsibility for the Product Policy & Open Innovation Unit. The unit also oversees Intellectual Property governance and International Frequency & Regulatory Coordination activities. Since September 2025, she has been seconded to the Leonardo Space Division as Head of Product Policy and Open Innovation.
Ugo Marturano
Lieutenant Colonel, Italian Air Force – National Armaments Directorate, Italian Ministry of Defence
Ugo Marturano is an Italian Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and electronics engineer with extensive experience in defence, aerospace systems, and national space programmes. He currently serves at the National Armaments Directorate of the Italian Ministry of Defence, in the Global Combat Air Programme / FCAS-Tempest area. Since 2023, he has also served as Space Programmes Expert at the Office for Space and Aerospace Policies of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, and since 2024 as the Italian Air Force focal point at the Italian Space Agency for Human Spaceflight and Low Earth Orbit activities. Throughout his career, he has held command and programme-management roles across the Italian Ministry of Defence and the Italian Air Force, working on Human Spaceflight, Access to Space, COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation, Galileo for EU Defence, Galileo, and Copernicus. He previously served at the Italian Air Force Flight Test Centre, where he qualified as Experimental Systems Engineer. He holds a degree in Electronic Engineering and several postgraduate master’s degrees in space systems, satellite communications and navigation, strategic leadership, and international strategic-military studies. He is a licensed professional engineer, certified as Advanced Aerospace Expert Engineer in Aerospace Programme Management, and serves as Adjunct Professor at LUISS Business School in the Master in Space Economy.
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.
Mauro Piermaria
Deputy Chief, Office for Space and Aerospace Policies, Presidency of the Italian Council of Ministers
Mauro Piermaria is Deputy Chief of the Office for Space and Aerospace Policies at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. In this role he is also serving as Director for Programs and Strategies. Before this, he served at the Italian Space Agency in several roles, lately as Head of Innovation and New Space Economy and previously Head of Equities & Governance Affairs and Program Manager in Exploration. In his early career he spent three years at NASA Kennedy Space Center working on the ISS Shuttle missions. Mauro Piermaria holds a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from University Sapienza in Rome and received his Master of Business Administration from MIB School of Management in Trieste.
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.
Pieruigi Sanna
Deputy Mayor of the Metropolitan City of Rome
Pierluigi Sanna is the current Deputy Mayor of the Metropolitan City of Rome. Graduated with a degree in Lettere, Sapere Amministrativo e Formazione, he served as Mayor of Colleferro for over a decade. On the international front, Sanna has focused significantly on aerospace policies and cooperation among European space cities. From 2022 to 2024, he served as President and Vice-President of the Communauté des Villes Ariane (CVA), a network that bridges local governments and aerospace supply chain companies involved in the Ariane and Vega launcher programs. His commitment to the Space Economy was further consolidated in June 2026, when he joined the Scientific Committee of the NSE -New Space Economy Expoforum. Additionally, Sanna drives local technological and industrial development as a founding member of the ITS Academy Logistica 4.0 and as a member of the General Assembly of the Lazio Industrial Consortium. In June 2026, he assumed office as President of the Colleferro Municipal Council. He also represents local authorities within the CAL (Council of Local Authorities) and serves as an effective representative monitoring European funds for the “PR Lazio FSE+ 2021-2027” program.
Angelo Vallerani
Chief of Institutional Relations - OHB Italia SpA
Luca Voglino
Managing Director Investimenti SpA, holding company of Fiera Roma srl
