Speakers

After graduating in Aeronautical Engineering at the Politecnico of Milano and a brief period at Aermacchi SpA, Roberto Aceti in 1989 joined ESA – European Space Agency, in the Dutch operating centre as Project Manager and Programme Manager for ten years. In 1999 he was called in the Compagnia Generale dello Spazio (now OHB Italia) as Marketing Director and within a decade he reached the top of the company. In 2013 he has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer, a position he still holds today at OHB Italia SpA, since 2009 part of the German OHB SE Group.

Graduated in Law, with a Master’s Course in Diplomatic Studies and several certificate abroad during his career has held numerous public and management positions in important Italian companies and institution. He has been the first president of the National Aerospace Technology Cluster, Chief Executive Officer of the Apulian Airports, member of the Board of Directors of ENAV S.p.A., entrepreneur in the aerospace field, director of strategies and external relation of the Scientific Park PASTIS CNRSM. He has managed numerous R&D projects and post degree master.

Researcher of the Italian National Research Council (CNR) in Pisa, from 1980 to 1994 he was mainly involved in space mission design, analysis and flight control support for several national and international projects, including the first Italian geostationary satellite, a couple of space shuttle missions and a preliminary phase of development of the European contribution (Columbus) to the International Space Station. From 1982 to 2018 he was also involved in re-entry predictions of potentially hazardous space objects for the Italian Civil Protection Authorities. During the last 30 years he was deeply committed to the orbital debris problem, mainly in the fields of modeling, mitigation and remediation, also participating in various international committees, as the first ESA’s Space Debris Working Group (1987-1988), the ESA’s Space Debris Advisory Group (1990-1997) and, since 1998, the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC), as representative of the Italian Space Agency, being presently member of Working Group 4 (Mitigation). Since 1993 he was also member of various Study Groups on Space Debris promoted by the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA).

David Avino was born in Foligno (PG) on February the 21st 1971 and has lived in Turin since 1999. He attended the Military Academy of Modena and the Scuola di Applicazione of Turin where he graduated in Computer Science at the University of Turin. Until 1998, he served in the Special Forces, and then began a career in aerospace. In 2005, he became operations manager of the first European long-duration mission on the International Space Station. In the same year, he is also a certified NASA and ESA instructor. Back in Italy in 2008, he founded Argotec, of which he is currently CEO. In 2013, he develops Europe’s first commercial activity in the space sector, involving Lavazza in a partnership with Italian Space Agency. Argotec is selected by NASA to take part, as the only European company, in two important missions, Exploration Mission 1 and DART, the latter of which was completed with resounding success on 27 September 2022. In 2016, it received the NASA award in Washington for the best experiment performed on the ISS. In 2018, Forbes Italy mentions Argotec among the five most influential aerospace companies in the country. Since 2020, he has served as CEO of the newly incorporated Argotec Inc. in the state of Maryland (USA). He sits on several boards of directors and since 2021 has been president of the Basket Torino sports club.

Krystal Azelton (née Wilson) is a Director of Space Applications Programs at Secure World Foundation and has over 10 years of international and domestic space, public policy, and management experience.

Prior to joining SWF, Ms. Azelton was a consultant at Access Partnership, where she worked with international satellite service providers and other leading technology companies on policy issues related to spectrum management, emergency communications, telecommunications standards, orbital debris, and multilateral processes including representing industry at the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission. She has also served as a project manager at the Tauri Group, a leading aerospace analytics firm, providing research, analysis, strategic planning, and regulatory assessment to government and commercial clients. She led and supported production of NASA’s strategic plans, audits, performance plans, budgets, and annual reports. Her work exposed to the full range of NASA’s Earth observation, human exploration, and aviation programs. In that role, she was also recognized as a key member of a data management team that received the NASA Group Achievement Award.

Previously, Ms. Azelton was in the field of international development as a Monitoring and Evaluation Manager at Development Alternatives, Inc in Afghanistan working on US military and local government initiatives and as Senior Program Assistant at the National Democratic Institute in Africa and Washington, DC working on sustainable governance projects. In those roles, she worked closely with the United Nations, the World Bank, the Department of State, the Department of Defense, US and international nonprofits, and others. Read Ms. Azelton’s publications.

Education
Ms. Azelton holds a BSFS in International Politics from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in Washington, DC and completed the Programme Internationale at Sciences-Po in Paris, France.

Since 2019, Bertrand Baratte is the Director of Space Market for Air Liquide (a world leader in gases, technologies and services for industry and health, key industrial partner of the Ariane program and European Earth Observation missions). Bertrand is responsible for defining Space Strategy in collaboration with the different subsidiaries of the Group involved in Space, from on-the-ground support to on-board gas & cryogenics technologies (for Launchers, Satellites and Sustainable Space Exploration). Before that, Bertrand was Director of the Air Liquide Advanced Technologies Space Business Unit for 4 years. Graduated in Chemical Engineering at INSA Toulouse & Mc Gill Montreal, and Collège des Ingénieurs MBA, Bertrand has 22 years experience within Air Liquide, through various assignments (operations, general management and P&L, business and projects development) in remote and multicultural
environments.

Fabrizio Battazza is the Head of the Relations with ESA (European Space Agency) at ASI (the Italian Space Agency), coordinating the whole ESA Italian delegation and supporting the ASI President in the ESA affairs.

He is national delegate to ESA Council since 2021, to Program Board of Earth Observation (PBEO) since 2011 and Vice-Chair to PBEO since 2020.

Fabrizio Battazza graduated in physics from La Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. He has a solid background on Earth Observation with 20 years of experience in the Space sector. In early 2001 he joined the European Space Agency working in the preparatory programs of the agency, moving to ASI in late 2002 he joined first the COSMO-SkyMed team and then PRISMA mission team, when in 2010 he gradually moved to managing the European space programs, notably afferent to ESA and the European Union.

Piero Benvenuti is Professor Emeritus of Astrophysics at the University of Padova and has been recently appointed Director of the Centre of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) for the protection of the dark and quiet sky from satellite constellation interference.

He has been employed by the European Space Agency as IUE Observatory Controller and as Head of the Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility. In Italy, he has been President of the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) and Commissioner of the Italian Space Agency. He has been the IAU General Secretary for the triennium 2015-18.

Marko Bertogna is Full Professor at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, where he leads the HiPeRT Lab. His main research interests are in High-Performance Real-Time systems and Autonomous Driving.

In 2008, he received a PhD in Computer Sciences from the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna of Pisa. He has authored more than 100 papers, receiving different awards. He coordinated multiple EU and industrial projects, securing more than 10 MEuro in funding for his research group. He is CEO and founder of the academic spinoff HiPeRT Srl, and founder of Minerva Srl.

Giuseppe Borghi is the Head of the ESA Φ-lab Division: Accelerating the future of Earth Observation since June 2020. He holds a Ph.D. degree in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence and Master in Executive General Management.

After some years of AI research activities @PoliMi (I) and IDSIA (CH), he joined the European Space industry contributing for almost 25 years to its worldwide innovation in various executive roles such as Vice President of Strategy, BD and Sales @Teledyne e2v (UK-USA), Programme Director @OHB (I), BU Manager @Media Lario Technology (I), AIPAS(I) Board Member, Research Programme Manager TNO (NL).

His contribution was always aimed to develop the worldwide Space Industry by exploiting technology and business model transformative innovation as the catalyst for success.

Michal Brichta is a co-founder of the newly-established Slovak Space Office and the head 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.

I currently act as Business Development Director at Officina Stellare Spa (www.officinastellare.com), which I co-founded in 2009, with the partners Riccardo Gianni and Giovanni Dal Lago.

My technical-electronic background in the telecommunications field, combined with a natural attitude for communication and leadership, have allowed me to cover different roles within the company over the years: from marketing manager to COO, to the current role of Head of the Business Unit.
A path of both personal and professional growth that has led to some important successes, which have consolidated Officina Stellare as a major leader in the design and production of opto-mechanical instrumentation in the Aerospace, Defense and Astronomical Research sectors worldwide.

Maria Fabrizia Buongiorno, graduated in Geological Sciences at the University of Rome “La Sapienza” in 1988. Her current position is Director of Technological Research, since 2020 She is coordinator of the INGV Center for Space Observations of the Earth (COS).

In June 2021 she has been appointed by the Italian Space Agency as President of E -GEOS (Telespazio/ASI company). She has more than 30 years of experience in the field of EO missions and data processing for environmental and natural hazards applications. She started her professional career in the Telespazio Company working in the research & development area of the Earth Observation Division.

In 1990-1991 She spent a period at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (USA), as joint researcher in the “Earth Science” Division developing analysis techniques for volcanology using remote sensing data acquired by infrared and hyperspectral sensors. In 1992 she started her career as researcher by joining the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica (ING) focusing on the development of a Remote Sensing Laboratory dedicated to the analysis EO data for Earth Science applications.

From 2003 to 2017 she has been Responsible for Space Observations activities at Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV). She has a consolidated collaboration with many Space Agencies as ASI, DLR, ESA, NASA, and support them as member of Missions Advisory Boards to define scientific requirements for the new space missions to improve the understanding of Earth processes and climate change. Since 2013 she has been co-chair with USGS of the Earth Science “Working Group under the bilateral agreement USA-ITALY in Science and Technology, and coordinate the MoU between INGV and Italian Ministry of Foreign Affair (MAECI).

Masud Cader is the Lead of Country Analytics for the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group.  In this position Masud is responsible for strategy integration, impact assessment and applying complexity to create novel insights that link development strategy with private sector investment.  Masud also co-heads the World Bank Group-IMF Economic Networks practice.  He has over 20 years of experience in corporate finance, sustainable investing, investment management, equity and credit portfolio management, trading, and use of artificial intelligence to manage difficult development problems.  Masud has degrees from Purdue University, American University, and Johns Hopkins University.  He conducts MBA research courses at Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business.

Chiara Cagnazzo is Sectoral Information System Manager at Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) ECMWF, where she addresses the challenge of transforming user needs in different sectors into usable climate-derived information. As a scientist, her research was dedicated to understanding the role of atmospheric variability and its representation in models on climate predictability at timescales from sub-seasonal to decadal, as well as on long-term projections. Chiara Cagnazzo received her PhD degree from the Polytechnique University of Paris in 2004.

Matias is an Ecuadorian engineer and space enthusiast. He graduated from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (USA), where he obtained both his Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Aerospace Engineering and a Minor in Robotics Engineering. Additionally, Matias obtained a Physics teaching license from the state of Massachusetts. Matias started his career in Germany where he worked at the firm Silver Atena GmbH and then returned home to Ecuador to become a space entrepreneur. Matias is the founder and CEO of Astralintu Space Technologies, which focuses on providing in-orbit services that look to grant space access to emerging actors in Latin America and the world.

Additionally, Matias volunteers as the STEM Program Director for the Sideralis Foundation acts as the SGAC’s National Point of Contact for Ecuador, is the current Vice-Chair of the IAF Administrative Committee for Developing Countries and Emerging Communities and is the Chair of the IAF Latin American and Caribbean Subcommittee. Matias has been recognized as an Emerging Space Leader by the International Astronautical Federation and as a Space Generation Leader by the SGAC. Through engineering and education, Matías looks to lead and promote the development of the New Space industry in Latin America so the region can attain all its benefits.

Currently, PAC is Associated to INAF at the Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale and Fisica Cosmica in Milano where she has been Director from 2011 to 2017. She is also Professor of “Introduction to Astronomy” at the University of Pavia, representative of INAF within the CTA Collaboration and Associate Editor of the Journal of High Energy Astrophysics.

A world leader in the study of high-energy emission from neutron stars, PAC is well known for her seminal work on Geminga, the first gamma-ray pulsar with no radio emission. Indeed, her career was based in interdisciplinarity in astronomy, from space and from the ground.

Dr Erasmo Carrera is Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Politecnico di Torino. He acts as President of the Italian Association of Aeronautics and Astronautics, A.I.D.A.A and member of Accademia delle Scienze di Torino.
He has been visiting professor at the University of Stuttgart, Virginia Tech, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Tambov University, Supmeca and Ensam.

Dr Carrera has been responsible for various research contracts granted by public and private national and international institutions, including the European Community, European Space Agency, Thales Alenia Space and Embraer. He is founder and Editor-in-Chief of Advances in Aircraft and Spacecraft Science, Editor-in Chief of Mechanics of Advanced Materials Structures and Section Editor of Journal and Sound and Vibration.

He has introduced the Unified Formulation, or CUF (Carrera Unifed Formulation), as a tool to establish a new framework in which to develop theories of beams, plates and shells for metallic and composite multilayered structures. He has been author and co-author of about 800 papers on the above topics. Carrera has been recipient of various ‘best paper award’ and of the ‘JN Reddy Medal’.

Professor Carrera has been Highly Cited Researchers (Top 100 Scientist) by
Thompson Reuters in the two Sections: Engineering and Materials. He has been confirmed HiCI in 2015 in the Section Engineering. The only aerospace Engineering
worldwide.

Due to his scientific outcoming professor Carrera has been recently awarded by
the President of Italian Republic, as ‘Honoray Commendator’.
Dr Carrera is the Local Chair of 75th IAC Milano 2024 and 34th ICAS Florence
2024.

Simonetta Cheli took up duty as Director of Earth Observation Programmes and Head of ESRIN (D/EOP) on 1 January 2022.
Born in Siena, Italy, she studied law and economics at Yale University in the United States, before gaining a degree in political sciences with a thesis on international satellite telecommunication law at the University ‘Cesare Alfieri’ in Florence, Italy. She also holds a diploma of advanced studies (DEA) from the Centre d’Etudes Diplomatiques et Stratégiques (CEDS) in Paris.

She has worked at ESA for over three decades, both at Headquarters in Paris and at ESRIN, including 15 years of working within the Directorate of Earth Observation Programmes.
She joined ESA in 1988, working in International Relations, Programme and Strategy, then moved to ESRIN in 1999 as Head of Public and Institutional Relations covering Italy, Spain and Portugal. In 2008, she returned to Paris as Head of the Coordination Office for Earth Observation.

Before her selection as Director of Earth Observation, Simonetta Cheli was Head of the Strategy, Programme and Coordination Office for Earth Observation, coordinating relations with international partners in the field of environment and climate, and with ESA Member States and the European Union, managing the Programme Board of Earth Observation, and relations with European Partners such as Eumetsat and ECMWF.
She also teaches Master courses on space, is a member of numerous international
committees and has received various awards.

Massimo Comparini is Deputy CEO, Senior Executive Vice President Observation, Exploration and Navigation at Thales Alenia Space as well as CEO of Thales Alenia Space Italia. He has a long and proven track record in space industry, from technology to services, and in the earth observation domain; in 2016, he was named CEO of eGeos, a joint venture between Telespazio (80%) and the Italian Space Agency (20%). and Director Line of Business Geo Information at Telespazio. He was, at the same time, Chairman of GAF and EarthLab Luxembourg.

In 2013, Massimo Comparini was appointed CTO of Telespazio, a joint venture between Leonardo (67%) and Thales (33%).

He started his career in 1983 at Selenia Spazio (later Alenia Spazio), holding various management positions, up to his position as Chief Technology Officer.
Massimo Comparini holds a Master Degree in Electrical Engineering, Remote Sensing and Radar Systems from the University of Rome La Sapienza, as well as a Degree in Strategy from the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University.
He is member of the technical-scientific advisory board of the Research, Development and Higher Studies Center in Sardinia – CSR4 – (Italy).

Alessandro Comune serves as VP of Global Supply Chain. He joined Satellogic in April 2021 bringing 20 years of experience gained internationally in several technical and managerial roles. Most recently, Alessandro provided leadership to the Procurement Team of OHB Systems in Munich, Germany, heading the Subcontractor Management Department. He dealt with the selection and management of space equipment suppliers, negotiating & executing complex development contracts from kick-off to final deliveries for earth observation and scientific missions within the ESA institutional market. Previously, Mr. Comune was Project Manager at ABSL Space Products in Oxford, UK (now a division of EnerSys Advanced Systems) delivering Lithium-Ion batteries to several Satellite customers around the world. In 2007 he worked for Airbus Defence & Space in Stevenage, UK as Principal Engineer where he gained experience in the Eurostar E3000 telecoms satellite platforms and related customizations and evolutions. Alessandro started his career in the Aviation Industry working on different Commercial and Military aircraft projects in Italy for Leonardo (former Alenia Aeronautica) and in the US at Lockheed Martin for the JSF F-35 program. He earned his MSc in Aeronautical Engineering cum laude from University of Napoli “Federico II” in Italy.

Ricardo Conde, 57 years old, is the father of two beautiful girls. He holds a degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from IST – Technical University of Lisbon and a postgraduate degree in Space Technologies. He began his professional career in 1991, having been linked to the Aeronautics and Space sector since 1993 with the participation in several National and International programs, in particular in Space and Ground segments. In 2019 Ricardo joined the Portuguese Space Agency, Portugal Space as a member of the board. About one year later, Ricardo Conde was appointed President of the Portuguese Space Agency.

Senior Scientist and Director of the Ocean Predictions and Applications Division of Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici (CMCC) Foundation in Lecce, Italy. He holds a Phd in Environmental Science: protection and management of natural resources from Bologna University. He is the Director of the Ocean Predictions and Applications Division of CMCC. From 2003 he is working in the field of operational oceanography applications development. He was co-chair of MONGOOS (Mediterranean Oceanography Network for the Global Ocean Observing System-GOOS) and he is the Emergency Response Office manager the MONGOOS-REMPEC agreement. He was a member of the JCOMM Task Team on Maritime Safety and chair of the JCOMM Expert Team Marine Environmental Emergency Response. Since May 2015 he is Leader of the European Copernicus Marine Service (CMEMS) for the Mediterranean Monitoring and Forecasting Centre (MFC) that provides ocean forecasting for the Mediterranean Sea. He was Deputy Leader of the Black Sea MFC. He has 45 papers in peer reviewed international journals. At CMCC he has coordinated and contributed to the development of several applications relevant to maritime safety and marine environment based on CMEMS data including Sea-Conditions, VISIR, WITOIL and OCEAN-SAR.
Since June 2021 he is member of the Steering Committee of CoastPredict UN Ocean Decade programme and since June 2022 he coordinates the PredictOnTime UN Ocean Decade action.

Col. Pier Francesco COPPOLA was born in Rome on July 15th, 1964. In 1991 he joined the Air Force and he was assigned to the Air Force General Staff in Rome as a computing engineer.
In 1992 he graduated in Physics at the University of Rome “La Sapienza” obtaining a specialization in Structure of Matter: He has worked on a thesis dealing with the setting up of the technique of “Total Yield Spectroscopy” for the investigation of the quality of amorphous Si-C semiconductors alloys samples created by glow discharge from SiH4 and CH4 plasma.
In 1994 he moved to the Italian Air Force Met Service and after having attended the training course in Atmospheric Physics in 1995 he was assigned to the 4th Wing Meteorological Section at Grosseto Air Base where he worked as a forecaster until October 1996. He then relinquished his post and was assigned to the National Center for Aeronautical Meteorology and Climatology in Pratica di Mare where he has served both as a forecaster and as a computing scientist in the IT division of the Center.
In 1996, 1998 and 2000 he has served at Baia Terra Nova Base in Antarctica as a forecaster for the weather support provision to the XII, XII and XV Italian Expeditions of the Italian Antarctic Project. In this regard he has contributed to set up the weather support directives for air navigation in Antarctica and he has participated to several meetings organized by the countries involved in air operations in the Antarctic Continent meant to improve weather forecasting skill and enhance the efficiency of air navigation in a region where extreme weather conditions can strongly jeopardize air navigation safety. In 2000 he has curated the Italian Section of the Manual of the Antarctic Forecaster and in 2002 he was invited by the National Science Foundation of the United States to Columbus (Ohio) to an international panel aimed to improve numerical forecasting to the advantage of air operations in the Antarctic environment.
In 2001, within the National Centre for Aeronautical Meteorology and Climatology, his activity was fully committed to the IT branch in the field of the setup and supervision of the operational computing processes related to numerical weather prediction applications and post-processing of the data generated by numerical models with a special mention to the products being generated and used for military operations support. In 2005 he became head of the branch and he was appointed to setup an autonomous high performance computing capability for the Air Force Weather Service. In 2006 the first high performance computing infrastructure was put in operation at Pratica di Mare Air Base.
In 2010 he relinquished his post and he was assigned to the 1st Office of the 4th Division of the Air Force General Staff where he has served as head of the Meteorological Systems section which is in charge for the modernization of the equipment, systems and networks being used by the personnel of the Italian Air Force Met Service. In this field, in the period between 2010 and 2018, some important modernization projects have been started. Among these the following projects are worth quoting. In 2012 a new weather station architecture named “Standard Weather Station” has been designed and used as the basis of the new network of weather stations of the Italian Air Force Weather Service which is the Italian official network for ground weather observations. The main features of the Standard Weather Station architecture are the independency from the manufacturer weather sensors, the implementation of the Internet of Things paradigm, of which the SWS is a precursor, and the Edge Computing technology. In 2013 a new high performance computing infrastructure based on CPU-GPU architecture was put in operation beside to the old infrastructure which was based on CPU architecture. A new radiosounding network consisting of 6 fully automated stations with remote control features has become operational in 2018 and in the same year the renewal of the Italian Air Force Weather Portal was launched.
In 2015 he actively participated to the reorganization of the Air Force Weather Compartment.
In 2018 he was promoted Colonel and he was given the post of deputy head of the 1st Office of the 4th Division within the Air Force General Staff. In 2019 he was assigned to Air Fleet Command as head of the Resources and Systems Office and after a new reorganization of the whole Air Force Weather Compartment, in which he was actively involved, he has assumed the post of head of the Meteorology Office within the Air Fleet Command General Staff.
Col. Coppola is married to Carla and has a son, Alessandro Liam.

Dr. Andy Court is a Principal Business Developer at the Dutch research organization TNO. He has been involved in space related missions for more than 30 years, ranging from hard x-ray instrumentation to optical earth observation systems. Currently he is the EU manager for the TNO Industry Unit, responsible for supporting HEU proposals and contacts to the EC. Dr. Court is also the chair of the EARTO space working group which carries out consultation and exchange of ideas from RTO’s with the European Space Agency, EC and industrial associations.

Born in Avigliana (TO) on 7th April 1955, he has over forty years’ experience in the development of space programmes for both human and robotic space exploration, holding increasing responsibilities in Aeritalia, Alenia Spazio, Alcatel Alenia Space and Thales Alenia Space.

Prior to the creation of the Join Venture between Leonardo and Thales, in Alenia Spazio, he held the position of Program and Operation Manager, developing significant experience in engineering, development, production, assembly, integration and testing and development of new technologies, occupying over time positions of increasing responsibility.

Since 1 January 2016, Walter Cugno has held the dual position of Vice President of Thales Alenia Space’s Exploration and Science Domain, as well as Head of the company’s Turin Site. Member, of the Board of Directors of ALTEC, a company co-participated by Thales Alenia Space and Italian Space Agency.
He has held significant positions in projects such as Spacelab, Tethered Satellite, IRIS, Lageos, Hipparcos and SAX X-ray, in roles such as Product Assurance Manager, Assembly, Integration and Test Manager, Launch Operation Manager and Project Manager.

From 1997 to 2013 he was Program Manager for the International Space Station programmes, in particular for NASA’s next-generation programmes, Node 2
(Harmony) and Node 3 (Tranquillity) programmes, the Cupola programme and the MPLM (Multipurpose Logistic Module), Pressurised Multipurpose Module and Cygnus Pressurised Cargo Module programmes. Also within Thales Alenia Space, he has been Director of the ExoMars Programme since 2013, arriving at this appointment thanks to the technical and management positions he previously held in the company.

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.

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).

Dr. Del Gaudio is the former Coordinator of the Life Sciences Department at the Fondazione E. Amaldi. His research activity is mainly focussed on the design, fabrication and evaluation of bioresorbable scaffolds for tissue engineering applications and on the characterization of high-sensitive nanostructured sensors for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

He is also professor of “Engineering for regenerative medicine” at Sapienza University of Rome and supervisor of the ESA Topical Team “Bone Tissue Engineering in Space: a microgravitational understanding of the “scaffolds-cells-signals” paradigm for a more realistic investigation on the degenerative mechanism, regenerative expectations, and potential devices”.

Mr. Giovanni Di Antonio graduated in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering. He presently covers the role of General Aviation Management Director at the Italian Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC) where he is also responsible for the development of the national regulatory framework for the commercial space transportation, including suborbital flight, access to space, re-entry, and spaceports. At European and international level, Mr. Di Antonio chairs the EASA Higher Airspace Operations (HAO) Task Force in charge of carrying out the preparatory work for the future European HAO regulation, and the Joint Authorities for Rulemaking on Unmanned Systems (JARUS). He is also the national focal point of the ECHO project which has been developing the European HAO Concept of Operations, and member of the European Commercial Spaceport Forum, the European Group of Suborbital Flight Regulation, and the ICAO Space Learning Group. He has been involved in the preparation and implementation of the National Strategic Plan 2021-2030 for the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) as a member of the Italian AAM Task Force Steering Committee, and, more recently, he has been contributing to development the ENAC Regulatory Sandbox guidelines aimed to foster innovation in the aviation and aerospace sector.

Simonetta Di Pippo is Professor of Practice of Space Economy at SDA Bocconi School of Management and Director of Space Economy Evolution Lab (SEE Lab). She is an italian astrophysicist and before joining SDA Bocconi she served as Director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA).
She holds a Master’s Degree in Astrophysics and Space Physics from University “La Sapienza”, an Honoris Causa Degree in Environmental Studies, and an Honoris Causa Degree of Doctor in International Affairs.

In her career, she has been able to cover all the main different fields in space activities, with experience at national, regional and global level. She wrote two books and contributed to many more. She is also author and co-author to several international articles, and always advocating the importance of increasing awareness of the benefits of space activities, she has been featured in more than 1000 interviews and TV and radio shows and podcasts.

Prior to joining UNOOSA, she served as Director of Human Spaceflight at ESA, Director of the Observation of the Universe at the Italian Space Agency and led the European Space Policy Observatory at ASI-Brussels.
She is an Academician of IAA and a member of the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on space since 2016, co-chairing it since 2020. In her career, Simonetta Di Pippo has been active in bridging the gender gap in STEM and the space sector. In 2009, she co-founded Women in Aerospace Europe and in 2017, she became a UN International Gender Champion.

In 2008, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) named asteroid 21887 “dipippo” in honour of her contribution to space activities and in 2006, she was knighted by the President of the Italian Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi as Cavaliere Ufficiale al Merito. She has been the first woman to be honored with the Hubert Curien award.

Fiammetta Diani was appointed Head of Head of Market, Downstream and Innovation at the GSA, now EUSPA, in January 2019, previously she was Deputy Head of Market Development. She has been working at the Agency since 2009 and has been responsible for transport and governmental segments, while supervising the mass market and professional domains and contributing to some of the Agency’s major achievements in terms of Galileo market adoption and user uptakes.

Before joining the GSA, Fiammetta Diani worked in the private sector for more than a decade, both in the aerospace and information technology industry, with focus on market and business development of products, applications and services based on space technologies (GNSS, Earth Observation and Satellite Communications).

Fiammetta Diani holds a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from Politecnico di Milano and a post-graduate Master in Economics and Business Administration of governmental and non-profit organisations from the University of Ferrara, in Italy.

Carlo Doglioni was born in Feltre (Belluno, Italy) where he attended classical high school. He graduated in Geological Sciences at the University of Ferrara, where he started his career in 1983 as a researcher, then associate professor at the University of Bari (1992), and full professor at the University of Basilicata in Potenza (1994). He was then called to the Sapienza University of Rome in 1997. He has spent periods of study and research in Basel, Oxford, Houston and New York. His research is mainly on the mechanisms of plate tectonics and the origin of seismicity, the structure of the Alps and the Apennines, and the evolution of the Mediterranean. He has carried out geological research in Italy, Morocco, Mexico, Iran, Tunisia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Japan, California, El Salvador, Ecuador. He participated in the Ocean Drilling Program 161 oceanographic cruise in the Mediterranean 1994. He was President of the Italian Geological Society from 2009 to 2014. Since 2016 he has been President of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV). He is a member of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, the Accademia Nazionale delle Scienze detta dei XL, the Academy of Europe, the Accademia delle Scienze di Torino, the Istituto Veneto di Scienze Lettere ed Arti and the Istituto Lombardo di Scienze Lettere ed Arti. He has received various awards: 1986 – Dal Piaz Award of the Italian Geological Society; 1994 – Distinguished Lecturer of the AAPG, US tour; 2004 – Spendiarov Award of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 32nd IGC; 2005 – Distinguished Lecturer of the AAPG, Europe tour; 2009 – Alfred Wegener Award, European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers; 2009 – Bellunesi nel Mondo Award; 2013 – SS Vittore e Corona Award, Feltre; 2015 – Honorary Professor of Chinese Geosciences University, Beijing; 2018 – Robert R. Berg AAPG Award for Outstanding Research; 2018 – School of Advanced Studies Award – University of Camerino.

Alessandro Donati is General Manager at Kayser Italia, aerospace engineering company whose core business is the development of flight systems for space science and research.

With a Master’s Degree in Computer Science at University of Pisa and a PhD in Optics at University of Florence he has started his career at ICT companies, then in 1990 moved to Kayser Italia, holding various management positions, up to his position as General Manager.

He maintains a close relationship with Universities, Research Organizations and Industries working in the framework of space research.

Born in Arquata Scrivia (AL) in 1957, Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone attended the Naval Academy in Livorno where he graduated in 1980.
Admiral Cavo Dragone’s initial tour includes Flight Training in Naval Air Station Pensacola (FL) and Corpus Christi (TX) where he was awarded the Naval Aviator wings in 1982.
He served as embarked helicopter pilot for almost 7 years, then, in 1989, he was selected for transition to jet aircraft and returned to USA where he followed the flight training program in Meridian, MS, and Cherry Point, NC from 1989 to 1991.
He was carrier qualified on board USS Lexington in January 1990.
He was among the firsts pilots of the newborn Italian Navy Harrier Squadron, being the first Commanding Officer.
In 1993, after his first tour as Squadron C.O. in Italy, he went back to Yuma, AZ, for advanced training in Harrier Night Attack and Radar versions; then, he had a second Squadron C.O. tour in 1997-1998.
Prior to assuming his current position, Admiral Cavo Dragone served in many areas of Naval Aviation, achieving Combat Readiness Qualification on various types of helicopters and aircraft among which UH-1L, UH-1N, H3 and Harrier AV8B Plus (total of 2500 hours flight time).
He attended the Naval War College in Livorno in 1996.
From 1999 through 2002, he was assigned to the Naval Aviation Department at the Italian Navy General Staff in Rome as Head of the R&D Office.
On 27th September 2002, he was appointed Commanding Officer of Aircraft Carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi for a two-year tour.
In 2004-2005, he attended the Italian Institute for Higher Defence Studies in Rome.
He has a Master Degree in Naval and Maritime Sciences from Pisa University and a Master Degree in Political Sciences from Trieste University.
His most significant sea duty assignments have included:

• Flight Commander of MAESTRALE Class Frigates (1986-1987)
• C.O. of Minehunter MILAZZO (1987-1988)
• C.O. of AV8B Squadron (GRUPAER) (1991-1993) (1997-1998)
• C.O. of Frigate EURO (1996-1997)
• C.O. of Aircraft Carrier GARIBALDI (2002-2004)

From 2005 through 2008, he was appointed Navy General Staff Air Warfare and Naval Air Force Commander. From 2008 through 2011, he was appointed Commander of the Italian Navy Operational Raiders and Divers Group (COMSUBIN).
From 2011 through 2014, he was appointed Superintendent of the Italian Naval Academy.
In January 2012, he was appointed as head of the board of experts to advise and assist the designated judge in the trial related to the Costa Concordia shipwreck off the Giglio Island (Tuscany).
From 2014 through 2016, he served as Commander of the Italian Joint Special Forces Operations Headquarters.
On 1st July 2016, he was appointed Commander of the Italian Joint Operations Headquarters.

From the 22nd June 2019 until the 5th of November 2021, he was the Chief of the Italian Navy.
From the 6th of November 2021, he is the Chief of Defence.
He has just completed his 17 years of continuous service as Commanding Officer (from 2002 to today). He is military paratrooper and scuba diver, free fall skydiver and karate black belt (Shotokan style).
Admiral Cavo Dragone is married to Mrs. Rosa Fossati. They have two sons and one daughter: Michele (Medical degree), Umberto (Lieutenant of the Alpini mountain troops) and Ginevra Francesca (nursery student).
Major Awards and Decorations:

• Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy
• “Air Duty” Gold Medal
• Command Duties Bronze Medal
• Long Navigation Duty Medal
• Lebanon Mission Medal
• Persian Gulf Medal
• Former Republic of Yugoslavia Operations NATO Medal
• Operation Enduring Freedom Medal
• Military Paratrooper
• Military Scuba Diver

Pascale Ehrenfreund is the President of the International Space University and Research Professor of Space Policy and International Affairs at the Space Policy Institute/George Washington University in Washington DC. She is also the President of the International Astronautical Federation IAF and Visiting Professor at Leiden Observatory.

Since three decades she contributed as Principal Investigator, Co-Investigator and Teamleader to ESA and NASA astronomy and planetary missions as well as experiments in low Earth orbit and on the International Space Station.

Pascale Ehrenfreund served as the Chair of the Executive Board of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) between 2015-2020 and the President of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) from 2013-2015.

Pascale Ehrenfreund holds a Master degree in Molecular Biology, a PhD in Astrophysics, and a Master degree in Management & Leadership.
The asteroid “9826 Ehrenfreund 2114 T-3” bears her name.

Maria Cristina Falvella is a published astrophysicist with 30 years of experience in space science and leading space programmes. She has been appointed General Inspector of the Italian Space Agency and President of E. Amaldi Foundation.

M.C. Falvella studied and taught at Sapienza University of Rome and the ENS in Paris. Her activity ranges from space programs to industrial policy dossiers. Former Chair of the Industry Policy Committee of the European Space Agency, she represented Italy in discussions over the space agenda at the highest level in Europe, contributed to building international collaborations and brought forward young talents in the space sector.

An engineer by background, Dr Feichtinger graduated from the Graz University of Technology and earned a PhD in Space Experimentation. During the early 1990s and within the Institute of Applied Systems Technology of Joanneum Research, Graz, he became Technical Manager of the first Austro-Soviet manned space mission to MIR “AUSTROMIR” and the follow-on missions “AUSTROMIR-E” and “AUSTROMIR MED-F”. In 1993 he became an integrated member of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) EUROMIR-94 and EUROMIR-95 Mission Management Team at ESTEC, The Netherlands, eventually becoming resident in Moscow as the EUROMIR-95 Flight Operations Manager at Russian Mission Control Centre.

He joined the European Space Agency in 1997 as its Human Spaceflight, Microgravity and Exploration Programme Representative in Moscow. He became Head of the ESA Permanent Mission in the Russian Federation in 2007 and from 2009 – 2011 was ESA’s Senior Advisor on Exploration.

Since 2012 he is Executive Director of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), a globally active federation, which was founded in 1951 to foster dialogue between scientists around the world and support international cooperation in all space-related activities and continues to connect space people worldwide. The Federation is the world’s leading space advocacy body with over 300 corporate members, including all key space agencies, companies, societies, associations and institutes across 66 countries. IAF is the organiser of the premier annual gathering of the global space community, the International Astronautical Congress (IAC).

In 2020 Dr Feichtinger was awarded the “Executive Director of the Year 2020” by the International Association of Association Executives.

Ms Filotico has 20 years of experience in management and strategy consulting. She is partner and shareholder of SpaceTec Partners and leads firm’s Strategy practice. She has extensive knowledge of the Space sector, its eco-system and applications/ domains and more generally of the issues related to the space industry along the entire value chain from R&D, to manufacturing, launch, operations and to downstream applications. She has been supporting space institutions including the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Commission and the European Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) on space and industrial policy, market development and entrepreneurship fostering, as well as key European industry players to improve internal capabilities or to grow their business. She is currently part of the Copernicus Senior Expert Group advising the European Commission on the future evolution of the Copernicus Space Component. She is also an active member of the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator Jury.  Prior to joining SpaceTec, she led Booz&co’s (now Strategy& PWC) Aerospace and Defence practice in Italy and the Space Strategy team in Europe. Ms Filotico is an Aerospace engineer, with MSc in space system engineering, and certification from London School of Economics on public policy analysis. 

He has worked at ESA Space Science Department at ESTEC (1989-2020) , as visiting scientist, staff scientist, study scientist (SIMURIS, MORO lunar orbiter, EuroMoon lander), Research Unit Coordinator, Project scientist of SMART-1 (first European mission to the Moon, launched in 2003), Head of Research Division, and Chief scientist. He has been active at ILEWG (International Lunar Exploration Working Group) as president (1998-2000), and initiator of ILEWG MoonVillage initiative since 2000. He has been Co-Investigator of space projects such as SOHO, XMM, BIOPAN, SMART-1, Mars Express, COROT, ISS/Expose. He has published over 950 articles, including 230 refereed papers, in lunar and planetary exploration, solar/stellar physics, complex organics in space, astrobiology, instrumentation.

Born in France, he was admitted at Ecole Normale Supérieure of Education & Technology (now ENS Paris-Saclay), and became Professor Agrégé of Physical sciences. He obtained a PhD on Astrophysics and Space Techniques using a sounding rocket ultraviolet camera experiment at CNRS, with research stays in the US (Lockheed, SacPeak, Boulder, Harvard). He worked 3 years in Chile as astronomer for ESO European Southern Observatory, the French embassy, and as Professor of Astrophysics. Permanent researcher at CNRS Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale, he obtained the Habilitation for direction of research in 1990.

Graduated in Physics at Roma University “La Sapienza” in 1977, with a thesis on X-Ray spectroscopy applied to Lunar Apollo Samples.
1977-1983 Researcher at the National Research Council. Main research: Thermo-dynamical evolution of Martian surface.

1983-1985: ESA Research Fellow at University of Sussex (UK) working mainly on: hypervelocity impacts applied to planetary evolution processes and materials selection for space applications (Giotto HMC).

1985-2018: Agenzia Spaziale Italiana – ASI:
• Program Manager of the Italian participation to the Cassini-Huygens Mission, Co-Investigator the Cassini Radar and on H-ASI on the Huygens probe; Program Manager of VIRTIS, and GIADA instruments on the Rosetta Mission, MARSIS and PFS on the ESA Mars Express Mission, Sharad on the NASA MRO Mission;
• Chairman, 2006-2010, of the Philae Comet Lander Steering Committee;
• Mission Science Director for the Launch of LARES on VEGA maiden Flight 2012;
• 2008-2010: ASI Director of the Observation of the Universe department;
• 2010-2018: ASI Chief Scientist

2006-today Professor of “Solar System Exploration “ G. D’Annunzio” University-Chieti, Italy.
2020-today President of the International Research School of Planetary Sciences. D’annunzio University
Co-chair of the Indipendent Assesment Team- AIT of the NASA-JAXA-ASI-CSA International Mars Ice Mapper study phase

Prof. Bernard H. FOING is executive director of ILEWG International Lunar Exploration Working Group, chair of LUNEX foundation, manager of LUNEX EuroMoonMars Earth Space Innovation & ArtMoonMars programme, and president of Space Renaissance International. Guest research prof at Leiden Observatory/EPFL Lausanne/ISU Intl Space University/ VU Amsterdam/Latvia U. He is vice-chair of COSPAR Commission B (Moon, planets and small bodies) and PEX Exploration panel, chair of IAF ITACCUS committee on Socio-Cultural Utilisation of Space, and member of IAF committees (Astronomy, space habitats, exploration, traffic management), and full member of IAA since 2010. Former President of ESTEC staff committee (2012-2017), and former Chief scientist ESA ESTEC (2002-2018).

He has worked at ESA Space Science Department at ESTEC (1989-2020) , as visiting scientist, staff scientist, study scientist (SIMURIS, MORO lunar orbiter, EuroMoon lander), Research Unit Coordinator, Project scientist of SMART-1 (first European mission to the Moon, launched in 2003), Head of Research Division, and Chief scientist. He has been active at ILEWG (International Lunar Exploration Working Group) as president (1998-2000), and initiator of ILEWG MoonVillage initiative since 2000. He has been Co-Investigator of space projects such as SOHO, XMM, BIOPAN, SMART-1, Mars Express, COROT, ISS/Expose. He has published over 950 articles, including 230 refereed papers, in lunar and planetary exploration, solar/stellar physics, complex organics in space, astrobiology, instrumentation.

Born in France, he was admitted at Ecole Normale Supérieure of Education & Technology (now ENS Paris-Saclay), and became Professor Agrégé of Physical sciences. He obtained a PhD on Astrophysics and Space Techniques using a sounding rocket ultraviolet camera experiment at CNRS, with research stays in the US (Lockheed, SacPeak, Boulder, Harvard). He worked 3 years in Chile as astronomer for ESO European Southern Observatory, the French embassy, and as Professor of Astrophysics. Permanent researcher at CNRS Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale, he obtained the Habilitation for direction of research in 1990.

Roberto Formaro has a degree in naval and mechanical engineering from the University of Naples, has thirty years of experience in the creation of major works and projects in the Aerospace, Oil & Gas and Construction sectors. For 20 years at the Italian Space Agency he has dealt with technologies and the realization of complex space projects, holding numerous organizational positions.

Currently he is Director of the Programs and since 2015 has been the Italian Delegate at the Industrial Policy Committee of ESA.

1985-2018: Agenzia Spaziale Italiana – ASI:
• Program Manager of the Italian participation to the Cassini-Huygens Mission, Co-Investigator the Cassini Radar and on H-ASI on the Huygens probe; Program Manager of VIRTIS, and GIADA instruments on the Rosetta Mission, MARSIS and PFS on the ESA Mars Express Mission, Sharad on the NASA MRO Mission;
• Chairman, 2006-2010, of the Philae Comet Lander Steering Committee;
• Mission Science Director for the Launch of LARES on VEGA maiden Flight 2012;
• 2008-2010: ASI Director of the Observation of the Universe department;
• 2010-2018: ASI Chief Scientist

2006-today Professor of “Solar System Exploration “ G. D’Annunzio” University-Chieti, Italy.
2020-today President of the International Research School of Planetary Sciences. D’annunzio University
Co-chair of the Indipendent Assesment Team- AIT of the NASA-JAXA-ASI-CSA International Mars Ice Mapper study phase

Uli is one of the founders and CEO of Triangle Venture Capital Group, one of Europe’s leading investors in hightech start-up companies. She is also the CEO of FunderNation, Germany’s only digital investing platform that is run by a team of investment professionals.

Uli served as Chairwoman of Invest Europe (formerly the European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association – EVCA) in 2010-2011.
She was also named the most powerful person in private equity for 2010 by REAL DEALS and has been recognised by Dow Jones as one of the 100 most influential women in Europe’s finance industry.

Throughout her career, Uli served on numerous boards of companies and has been a longstanding board member of the Invest Europe. She currently serves on the board of iPharro, semafora and SemEO. Uli is member of the Space-Tech Advisory Council, the aws Seed Financing Board in Vienna, the Kuratorium of Fraunhofer IMW in Leipzig and the EBAN Space Executive Committee.

Uli was one of the pioneers in the early internet days, programming BTX (the German internet predecessor) back in ’88. She graduated at the age of 21 from the University of Applied Sciences, Worms with an MBA. Before co-founding Triangle Venture Capital Group in 1996, Uli has been CEO and founder of a number of start-up companies which she later sold successfully.

Uli is an unflinching optimist and an entrepreneur to the core – so it’s best not tell her something “does not work”. In her leisure time Uli enjoys mountainbiking, snowboarding, ballroom dancing and cooking.

Graduated in Electronics at Naples University Federico II, has started his space activity designing communication systems and on-board computers.
He has been responsible within former AERITALIA of science projects like Hipparcos and Integral, working as well for the International Space Station.

He has been Vice President for Science and Exploration of Thales Alenia Space Italia participating to important European in-flight projects like GOCE, Herschel & Plank and of ongoing projects like: BepiColombo targeting Mercury, Solar Orbiter and ExoMars mission for the Robotic Exploration of the red planet.

Since 2004 he is member of ISEC “International Space Exploration Committee”.
He is now Vice President for Institutional Marketing & Sales at Thales Alenia Space Italia and CEO of ALTEC S.p.A.

Véronique Glaude is an expert engineer on the Radio Regulations for Space Services at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). She is the ITU observer to COPUOS and its subcommittees since 2018. She joined the ITU in 1999 to deal with the processing of satellite network files: registration, coordination and notifications examination. Today, she represents the Bureau and ITU in several UN system committees and coordinates information systems improvement projects within the Bureau.
She continues to provide assistance and support to Member States’administrations and actively participates in various ITU workshops, seminars and world radiocommunication conferences related to space services. She is one of the BR coordinators for the “Network of Women for WRC23” initiative.

Christian Hauglie-Hanssen is the Director General of the Norwegian Space Agency (NOSA), and Norway’s Head of Delegation to ESA, a position held since 2018. NOSA is responsible for implementing the Norwegian government’s space policies, hereunder managing Norway’s participation in ESA, as well as in the EU Space Program.

Mr. Hauglie-Hanssen previously held the position of Executive Vice President of Space & Surveillance in the Kongsberg Group. He has 30 years of industrial experience, hereunder executive management positions in various defence and aerospace programmes, civilian businesses and space. He has also held the presidency of NIFRO, the advocacy group for the Norwegian space industry.

Mr. Hauglie-Hanssen holds a BSc degree in physics from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and a Master of Science degree in physics from the University of South Florida.

Candace Johnson – Chair of Advisory Board and Partner of Seraphim Space Fund, Vice Chair of NorthStar Earth and Space, and Non-Executive Director of SES-imagotag, the world’s leading IOT/Electronic Shelf Labelling group. Ms. Johnson is a member of the Executive Board of the ICC, International Chamber of Commerce, Member Saudi Space Commission Council, Member NEOM Technical and Digital Infrastructure Advisory Committee and is Vice President of Institut EuropIA, the European Institute of Artificial Intelligence.

Serial Entrepreneur and Investor.  Founder/Co-Founder of SES ASTRA and SES Global, the world’s pre-eminent satellite company, Loral-Teleport Europe, Europe Online, VATM, Succès Europe, OWNSAT, GTWN, and GBRW;

Candace Johnson is a global infrastructure, network and innovation entrepreneur and investor.   She is Founder/Co-Founder of SES (Société Européenne des Satellites), Loral-Teleport Europe, Europe Online, Oceania Women’s Network Satellite (OWNSAT), a founding investor in the Kacific Satellite System. Ms. Johnson is also Founding President of the VATM, the Association of Private Telecom Operators in Germany and Founding President of the Global Telecom Women’s Network (GTWN).

In 2012 she and a group of engaged women created the Global Board Ready Women initiative, (GBRW). She is President Emeritus of EBAN after having completed a four year presidency of EBAN, (European Business Angels Network), during which she was honoured to help found ABAN (African Business Angels Network) and Rising Tide Europe, amongst other initiatives. In 2020, she was Co-Chair of the Women in Business Task Force for the G20 in Saudi Arabia.

She has been decorated by the Luxembourg Government with the Commander of the Order of Merit and the Officer of the Oak Leaf Crown as well as being decorated by the German Government with the Officer of the Federal Order of Merit.  Ms. Johnson has received numerous Lifetime Achievement Awards from such prestigious organisations as the World Communication Awards,  Women in Aerospace and The International Alliance of Women.

Ms. Johnson has an honorary doctorate from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Masters with honours from the Sorbonne and Stanford and an undergraduate degree from Vassar College.

Claudia is an entrepreneur and visionary. She founded Astronautin GmbH in April 2017 to ensure the female future of (traditionally “manned”) astronautical space travel.

With Astronautin GmbH, Claudia is one of the few female founders in the high-tech industry to create a space start-up that makes engaging in space activities accessible to everyone, from space events to astronaut training and analogue missions. Astronautin GmbH is the only space start-up in Europe that has proven skills in the selection and training of astronauts.

Being one of the few female executives in space, Claudia is constantly working to ensure more participation, because women attract women! She promotes the international careers of female specialists and managers in the Women in Aerospace Europe (WIA-E) network. In addition, she is one of the few women to be a member of the International Aeronautical Academy (IAA).

Before to join to Nanoracks she was Strategy and Business Development officer at RHEA and appointed at the European Space Agency (ESA) – ESTEC as Business Innovation Expert of the Commercial Partnerships’ initiative for space exploration in the Directorate of Human Space Flight and Robotic Exploration. Previously worked for the ESA – Technology Transfer Programme Office, Department of International Relations of the Italian Space Agency (ASI). Even before worked at the European Space Policy Institute in Vienna, at the International Space University in Strasbourg, Telespazio SpA in Rome, Wave Energy Centre in Lisbon and as researcher at different universities in Europe and in the USA. She has been a climate-KIC coach since 2012. Veronica holds a master’s degree in system engineering from Electronic Engineering Department, a Master Degree in Space Policy, and a full Graduation in Law. She also pursued PhD Studies in Economics.
In 2017 she has been awarded as Leader by the Italian Branch of the Business Professional Women Network.

In 2021 she has been received the Masaniello 2021 Award as a talent over the Globe.
In 2022 she has been elected board member of the Association of Italian companies for Applications, Technologies and ITC for Space purposes (ASAS Spazio).

Vittorio Loreto is a Full Professor of Physics of Complex Systems at Sapienza University of Rome and Faculty of the Complexity Science Hub Vienna. He is presently leading the SONY Computer Science Labs in Paris, where he also leads the “Innovation, Creativity and Artificial Intelligence” team.

Loreto has published over 180 papers in internationally refereed journals and conference proceedings and chaired several workshops and conferences. He is a member of the executive committee of the Complex Systems Society.

Loreto recently opened a new site of CSL laboratories in Rome, devoted to tackling UN sustainable development goals. His scientific activity is mainly focused on the statistical physics of complex systems and their interdisciplinary applications. He coordinated several projects at the EU and Italian levels. More recently, he coordinated the Templeton-funded KREYON project devoted to unfolding the dynamics of innovation and creativity.

He is an expert in insurance, business administration and economics.
Previously he was co-founder and owner of Esepisoft, Managing Director for Luciano Spa and held several positions at UnipolSai Assicurazioni SpA including Head of governance for Telematics and Assistance Companies.

Giuseppe Macino, Professor Emeritus in Cell Biology at Sapienza Rome, degree in Chemistry, Postdoctor at Columbia University, involved in pioniering research on Mitochondrial genomes, on light induced transcriptional response, on circadian rhythm, and on post-transcriptional gene silencing.

Involved in studies on the micro RNA function in leukemia and several types of cancer. Epigenetics studies on human healty and patological cells.

Angelo Minotti’s activities are primarily in Space Propulsion, Combustion, Fluid dynamics, in Dual Use Goods and Arms Control.

He has two Master Degrees (Mechanical Engineering and Astronautics Engineering), a Master of Science (Space Transportation Systems) a PhD (Theoretical and Applied Mechanics) and a Postdoc (Aerospace Propulsion).
Following the above, he was appointed as Assistant Professor in Space Propulsion, earlier, and Space Systems, later, at the Sapienza University of Rome, which he has left in November 2017.
During his academic career, he has been involved in, and has managed, dozens of national and international scientific research projects (NATO, ESA, EU, etc.) and has authored or co-authored dozens of manuscripts and 4 international patents.

He has had the privilege to support and collaborate with private Companies and Industries, International Research Centers and Institutions, International Law Firms, the Italian Government and the UN on issues related to Space Propulsion and Security.

Laurence Monnoyer-Smith is head of Sustainable Development at CNES. She is piloting the Space Climate Observatory program, a One Planet Summit initiative that brings together 36 space agencies and international organizations. She is also in charge of the CSR policy of CNES, for which she has developed the strategy.

Holder of a PhD in Media Studies and a Habilitation to supervise Research, Laurence Monnoyer-Smith was head of the Social Sciences laboratory at the University of Technology of Compiègne where she was Professor. In 2013, she became Vice-President of the National Commission for Public Debate Debate and actively contributed to developing tools for representative and participatory democracy.

Laurence Monnoyer-Smith was appointed in 2015 by decree of the Council of Ministers as Interministerial Delegate and General Commissioner for Sustainable Development within the Ministry of the Environment, Energy and the Sea.
Laurence Monnoyer-Smith is knight of the Legion of Honor.

Eric Morel de Westgaver took up duty as Director European, Legal and International Matters (D/ELI) on 20 May 2021. He was appointed Head of HQ Paris on 1 October 2016. Before his current appointment, he had been Director of Procurement, Financial Operations and Legal Affairs (D/PFL) in April 2011 and Director of Industry, Procurement and Legal Services (D/IPL) in 2013.

Eric Morel de Westgaver graduated in Economics from the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. He joined ESA in 1987 as Industrial Policy Officer in the Directorate of Administration.
In 2001 he took the responsibility of the Industrial Policy and Cost Analysis Department in the Directorate of Industrial Matters and Technology Programmes.

In 2004, he became Head of the newly created Procurement Department. In this function, he profoundly modernised the procurement policy and regulations of ESA, such in close cooperation with Member States and industrial stakeholders. In addition to this responsibility, he was nominated Associate Director for Industrial Matters by the Director General in February 2010.

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.

He was born in Milam, Italy, and he is an Italian citizen. After spending 8 years with the Italian Army right out of high school, he obtained a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering and a Master of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Polytechnic University of N.Y. (currently NYU). He then worked in Italy as a Design Engineer before being hired as Astronaut Trainer by the European Space Agency (ESA) in Cologne, Germany. In 1998 he was selected as Astronaut by the Italian Space Agency, integrated into ESA’s Astronaut Corps and sent to train at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. He flew his first space flight in 2007 on STS-120, a short duration Space Shuttle mission for the construction of the International Space Station (ISS). With a Russian Soyuz rocket, he then flew two long duration mission to the ISS. The first one in 2010-11, Expedition-26/27, and the second in 2017, Expedition-52/53. In his career he logged 313 days in space. Upon retirement from active duty in 2018, he constituted Astropaolo s.r.l., a company through which he handles speaking engagements, technical and scientific endeavors.

Emmanuel PAJOT, male, PhD in Sciences (hons), Master in Business (hons), with over 17 years ofexperience combining sciences, technologies, and economy to deliver space-based Earth Observation(EO) services, Emmanuel experienced the challenges of developing and selling EO services.

After 13years in the Energy market, he joined EARSC in 2017 as a Project Manager and was appointed as the EARSC Secretary-General in July 2020. With his team, Emmanuel supports European companies in developing awareness of EO capabilities and the dialogue with stakeholders and communities of users.

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.

Dr. Antonella Peresan is senior seismologist at the National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics – OGS. Graduated in Physics in 1996, she got her Ph.D. in Geophysics and Geodynamics in 2001 at Trieste University. She holds the National Scientific Habilitation as full professor in Physics of Planets since 2018. She carried out advanced teaching (master and PhD level) and research activities at The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP, Trieste), Roma Tre and Trieste Universities, since 1997.

Author of more than 100 publications, including more than 80 peer-reviewed papers and proceedings, she has long-term international experience in the statistical and physical characterization of complex spatio-temporal features of seismicity, including: earthquake clustering analysis; time-dependent scenario-based seismic hazard assessment; integration of seismicity information with satellite Earth Observations (e.g. GPS) and other observables.

Nominated Honorary Member of the Indian Society on Earthquake Science in 2021 and former (2015-2020) Science Officer for “Earthquake Hazards” sub-division of the European Geosciences Union, she has been involved in a number of international with different countries (e.g., from India to Egypt, from Algeria to Vietnam). Dr. Peresan devotes special attention to the operational impact of scientific research, promoting technology transfer initiatives towards end-users community, and to students from developing countries. Currently she coordinates capacity building activities within a project funded by the World Bank, aimed at multi-risk assessment in Central Asia.

Ettore Perozzi is a senior scientist with a long-standing experience in celestial mechanics, spaceflight dynamcs, education and public outreach. He has worked in research institutions, space agencies, in the aerospace industry and he is presently at ASI – the Italian Space Agency.

He has been involved since the very beginning in the European Space Situational Awareness (SSA) programmes and, specifically, in monitoring the near-Earth asteroid and the space debris population. As former Head of the ASI SSA/SST Office he has contributed to the development of a European space surveillance system, as well as to the worldwide planetary defence coordination. He is presently at the ASI Science and Research Directorate.

Davide has currently been appointed as Executive Director of the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC). Davide holds a M.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Padova (Italy).

His professional experience brought him to London (UK) as a Business Manager for Alten Ltd and previously in Milano (Italy) as a Business Analyst for Accenture, global management consulting company that provides strategy, consulting, technology and operations services. Previously, he was the Team Leader of FELDs Experiment selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) for the Drop Your Thesis! 2014 programme. FELDs tested a tethered electromagnetic soft docking technology in microgravity conditions at the Drop Tower of the Centre of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM) in Bremen, Germany. In 2015, he won the IAF “Hans Von Muldau Team Award” for the best team project that took place in Jerusalem at the 66th International Astronautical Congress (IAC). Moreover, since October 2021, Davide has been elected as Vice President for Education and Workforce Development of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF).

Dr. Piccolo received his PhD from the University of Padua, Italy, where he is currently Professor of Molecular Biology at the School of Medicine. Dr. Piccolo unveiled new mechanisms by which cells sense their environment and use this information to build and maintain tissues with specific form, size and function. He is interested in how disruption of these homeostatic mechanisms leads to tumor formation, progression and metastasis.

Current main research topics are on mechanotransduction and communication pathways in cellular ecosystems during homeostasis, ageing, regeneration and cancer.

Mauro Piermaria is Director Programs and Strategies at Space Office, for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.

Before this, he served at the Italian Space Agency, in several roles, lately as Head of Innovation and New Space Economy, managing commercialization, start-ups, equities investments and technology transfer.

From 2014 to 2020 he was Head of Equities & Governance Affairs at Italian Space Agency and Secretary of the ASI Board of Directors. In the same period, member of the Board of Directors of ALTEC Spa, E. Amaldi Foundation and ELV Spa. He’s author of several Space Economy initiatives such as the M&A operation of ELV Spa with AVIO Spa, the Primo Space Venture Capital Fund initiative, the creation of the E. Amaldi Foundation.

Prior to this Mauro started his career in the aeronautic sector at Alenia Aeronautica working on the Eurofighter prototypes and after he spent three years at NASA Kennedy Space Center working on the ISS Shuttle missions. From 2005 he led at Italian Space Agency several important International space programs such Lisa Pathfinder and STS-120 Esperia Mission.

Mauro Piermaria holds a Master Degree in Aerospace Engineering from University La Sapienza in Rome and received his Master of Business Administration from MIB School of Management in Trieste.

From 2014 to 2020 he was Head of Equities & Governance Affairs at Italian Space Agency and Secretary of the ASI Board of Directors. In the same period, member of the Board of Directors of ALTEC Spa, E. Amaldi Foundation and ELV Spa. He’s author of several Space Economy initiatives such as the M&A operation of ELV Spa with AVIO Spa, the Primo Space Venture Capital Fund initiative, the creation of the E. Amaldi Foundation and the growth of space incubators and accelerators programs for start-up in Italy.

Prior to this Mauro started his career in the aeronautic sector at Alenia Aeronautica working on the Eurofighter prototypes and after he spent three years at NASA Kennedy Space Center working on the ISS Shuttle missions. From 2005 he led at Italian Space Agency several important International space programs such Lisa Pathfinder and STS-120 Esperia Mission.
He is also currently member of the Italian delegation to ESA’s Industrial Policy Committee, member of the Advisory board of the Space Economy Observatory of the Polytechnic of Milan, and national coordinator in the OECD Space Forum.

Mauro Piermaria holds a Master Degree in Aerospace Engineering from University La Sapienza in Rome and received his Master of Business Administration from MIB School of Management in Trieste.

Luciano Pietronero studied physics in Rome, then Research Scientist at Xerox Research in Webster USA (1974) and Brown Boveri Research Center (CH) 1975-1983. Full Professor of Condensed Matter Theory at the Univ. of Groningen (NL; 1983-87). Since 1987 Professor of Physics at the Sapienza University of Rome. Founder and director of the Institute for Complex Systems of CNR (2004-2014).

Since 2019 President of the Fermi Center (www.cref.it). Broad international experience in academic and industrial enviroments. Leader of a generation of young scientists protagonists of the complexity scene internationally. In 2008 he received the Fermi Prize (highest award of the Italian Physical Society). Recent activity in Economic Complexity applied extensively by the World Bank (for which LP is a Senior Advisor) and by the EU Commission for the evaluation of the Recovery Fund Projects (PNRR).

www.lucianopietronero.it

Ms 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 Poldrugo 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.

In May 2022, she was appointed as an expert member of the Technical and Scientific Committee of the Observatory for the integration of gender equality policies of the Italian Ministry for Equal Opportunities and Family.
Ersilia Vaudo Scarpetta has participated as a speaker in various TEDx Talks around Europe and has written extensively for the general public on topics concerning science and space, being convinced of the inspiring power that science has on the younger generations.

Dr. Oscar Pozzobon is co-founder, President and CEO of Qascom. He received a bachelor in information technology from University of Padova, a Master in Telecommunication Engineering from University of Queensland,  and a Phd in Aeronautics and Satellite applications from Centre of Studies and Activities for Space, University of Padova. He has been involved in the last 20 years in the design of all major European programs of satellite Navigation including Galileo and EGNOS, and has been a pioneer of GNSS Security and authentication, with more than 50 publications and 3 patents on this topic. He has been mission manager of several GNSS space missions including the SCaN testbed on the ISS with ESA-NASA, Sounding rockets with NASA-ASI, micro satellites experimentations with NASA and the recent Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment with NASA-ASI. He is adjunct professor for Satellite Navigation and Telecommunications at the University of Padova.

With over 30 years of experience in ATM, Iacopo has occupied a series of senior leadership roles in strategic, technical and operational roles. Starting his career with the Italian air force, Iacopo joined ENAV, the Italian air navigation service provider, in 1988, progressing through a series of managerial roles, finally leading the International Strategies division between 2011 and 2019, before being appointed Director NM in EUROCONTROL in July 2019.

Ruth Pritchard-Kelly is an expert on satellite regulatory policy with over 30 years of experience. She is currently the Senior Advisor for Regulatory & Space Policy at OneWeb where she advises a global team of legal & technical policy analysts. Pritchard-Kelly has also worked at O3b (now SES Networks) and American Mobile Satellite Corporation.

She has a Master’s Degree in space and telecommunications policy from George Washington University and a J.D. from the University of Maryland. Ms. Pritchard-Kelly is on the board of the US Telecommunications Training Institute and is a member of the Advisory Committee for the Secure World Foundation.

Rita Rinaldo is since February 2001 she has been with the European Space Agency, taking up different positions with the Technical Directorate first and then with the Telecommunications and Integrated Applications Directorate. She is currently in charge of the Projects & Studies Implementation Division in the Integrated and Telecommunications-related Applications Department, where she is responsible for the initiation and management of space-based applications projects in the relevant vertical sectors, including energy, mobility, agri-food. She is in charge of the Green Value initiative, supporting emergence of space-using solutions for the green transition.

Professor Rosaria Rinaldi is currently Full Professor of Condensed Matter Physics at the Department of Mathematics and Physics “E. De Giorgi” of University of Salento, and she is a member of the Academic University Senate. Since 2019 she is Member of the Ministry of University and Research (MUR) Evaluation Committee for Flag Projects and Interest Projects to be implemented by public research institutions. Prof. Rinaldi is currently in charge of the research center in “Nanomedicine, Nanobioelectronics and Nanobiotechnology”, at University of Salento.

In 2005 R.R. was awarded the medal of “Le Scienze” and the medal of the President of the Republic (Carlo Azeglio Ciampi) for research carried out in the field of Nanobiotechnology.

Since 2010, she was head of the Natural Sciences Area of and vice-director of University excellence school ISUFI till 2020. In 2015 she was visiting professor, winning an international selection for the “Eleonore Trefftz” chair, at the Technical University of Dresden in Germany. She was the coordinator of the doctoral school in Interdisciplinary Sciences and Technologies and Nanoscience at S.S. ISUFI and the coordinator of the doctoral school in Physics and Nanoscience, till 2020.

She won the “ITWIIN-High Education” award (2016) and was one of the finalists for the 2017 EuWIIN “European Women Inventors and Innovators Network” contest prize.

R.R. has coordinated or been a partner in more than 30 scientific projects at regional, national and EU level, in the last 15 years. R.R. is author and co-author of about 310 papers published in international scientific journals,13 monographs and book chapters, and 12 patents (H-index:40).

He has a longstanding experience and skill in (re)insurance, with several responsibility roles in his career (the Aviation Italian Pool, Specialty Lines Underwriting, Budgeting, Technical Accounting and Claims). He began his career in the finance dept of a chemical firm and then in the Marketing area of an insurance company and then professionally grew in the reinsurance context joining “Unione Italiana di Riassicurazione”, acquired in 1997 by Swiss Re.

In 2012 he took up the position of Head of P&C Claims in Italy and in 2019 enlarged his range of action becoming Head of P&C Business Management Italy, implying the supervision of all the reinsurance post sales end-to-end activities for the Italian market and support to the business origination.

Currently Raffaele represents Swiss Re in various local Market’ bodies (*) and is member of the Swiss Re Claims P&C EMEA Leadership team.
Since December 2019, he is the co-chair of Ruschlikon Italy Group Implementation project (RIGI). In Italy, Raffaele is leading the introduction of digital reinsurance technical accounting exchanges among Insurers, Brokers and Reinsurers. It is the first worldwide initiative awarded by ACORD where a Market is interconnected via hub platform.

Raffaele’s motivation is to shape a work environment based on curiosity, continuous learning and passion able to stimulate each person to give the best of themselves and developing their own talents.

(*)
– Member of CINEAS Board of Administration and Assembly and CINEAS teacher in the Master Expert Claims Management for the education of loss adjusters/Insurers claims manager
– Member of the Italian Marine Insurers Committee (Genoa/Trieste)

Luca is a visionary entrepreneur, seeking a profitable and sustainable expansion of the humankind in space. In 1998 Luca quits his Airborne Officer career and got a Master’s in Aerospace Engineering in Italy (2003). After a year working in a US research lab on nanotechnologies applied to space propellant, he came back to Europe, where, in 2005, he successfully concluded a Master’s in Strategic Leadership Towards Sustainability.

During his Ph.D. studies in Advanced Space Propulsion – concluded in 2008 with honors – Luca founded IRTA (startup providing advanced vision and slow-motion tracking techniques). In 2006 he co-founded The Natural Step Italia (The Natural Step is an international NGO that helps corporations and communities to pursue their objectives within a strategic sustainability framework), where the idea of applying strategic sustainability concepts to the space sector originated. In 2008 he applied for the European Astronauts Corp among 10,000 candidates. He went through the whole selection and positioned among the first two hundred.

Nevertheless, his motivation pushed Luca to find another access to 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.

Luca loves parachute jumping, scuba diving and eats science fiction books.

Giorgio Saccoccia, current President of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) since April 2019, has over thirty years of experience in the aerospace sector, mainly gained in the international arena.
Graduated with honors in Aeronautical Engineering with specialization in space at the University of Pisa on March 1988, he completed his studies with a Master in Business Administration at the European Headquarters in Leiden (NL) of the Webster University of St. Louis (USA) in 1995.

After three years of work in Italy, he joined the European Space Agency (ESA) in 1990 at the European Space Technology and Research Center (ESTEC) in the Netherlands, covering various positions over the years. From 2003 to March 2019 he was Head of the Propulsion and Aerothermodynamics Division, responsible for European Research and Development and for supporting projects in the propulsion sector for satellites and launchers, aerothermodynamics and, more in general, for the design of new vehicles for space transportation.

Under his presidency at ASI, the Italian space budget has more than tripled, allowing Italy to strongly strengthen its international positioning in the sector. Through a careful reorganization of the Agency, there has been an increase in ASI staff of about 30 percent.

Giorgio Saccoccia is an Associate Fellow of the AIAA (American Association for Aeronautics and Astronautics), full Member of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) and Emeritus Member of French Aeronautics and Astronautics Association.

Dr. Lorenzo Scatena is Secretary General of Fondazione E. Amaldi. Previously he served as Managing Director of Fondazione E. Amaldi responsible of two business lines, under mandate of the Board of Directors: Finance for Innovation and Business Applications.

He conceived the first Italian Venture Capital Fund for the Space sector and since 2017 is the Italian Ambassador of the European Space Agency for the Space Solutions Network, managing the Business Applications and Incubed+ Programmes. Mentor and founder of tech-accelerators and start-ups, He also served as Director General of Research Consortium Hypatia deepening his background in technology transfer, with a focus on the energy and new materials sectors.

Sam Scimemi is the Special Assistant in the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. He is a senior advisor for the implementation of NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration endeavor with commercial and international partnerships, including the Artemis program that will return U.S. astronauts to the Moon for the first time in the 21st century. Mr. Scimemi is the directorate’s primary interface for collaborations with international partners in formulating deep space human exploration activities, and represents the agency across U.S. government, industry, and other domestic stakeholder groups. Mr. Scimemi was also the International Space Station (ISS) Director at NASA Headquarters. He is a recognized leader in human spaceflight, from operations in low-Earth orbit (LEO) aboard the International Space Station and development of a LEO economy, to plans for sending humans to the Moon and onto Mars. Mr. Scimemi joined NASA in 1985 with the Space Shuttle Program. His experience spans Earth and space science programs including the Hubble Space Telescope, Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Preparatory Project, and many others. Most of his technical career has been spent in flight software and avionics development, testing, and operations as well as spacecraft level integration. In his role as the ISS Director, he was responsible for developing commercial LEO and exploration policy with the White House and Congress. He has been at NASA headquarters since 2003, and has worked at the Johnson Space Center, Ames Research Center, and Goddard Space Flight Center. Mr. Scimemi earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from McNeese State University in 1984 and graduated from Harvard’s Kennedy School Senior Executive Fellows program.

Simon leads the analysis of government space policies and programs, with a focus on space program management, public policy assessment, and socio-economic impact assessments.
Simon has overall responsibility for Euroconsult’s consulting missions for government and institutional clients. He has conducted market studies, new emerging technology analysis, space policy assessments and other studies for clients including the European Commission, the European Space Agency, and national space agencies such as the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the United Kingdom Space Agency (UKSA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
Simon is Chief Editor for Government Space Programs 2020, an analysis of global space activities and space expenditures of over 85 countries. He also contributes to Market Prospects for Satellite-based Earth Observation, Market Prospects for Small Satellites, and other research reports.
Simon has moderated panels at Euroconsult’s World Satellite Business Week and participated in other conferences, most recently in the Brazilian Space Agency’s Space Industry event.
Simon holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from McGill University, and an Advanced Master’s Degree in EU International Relations from the College of Europe in comparative space policy analysis.

Aeronautical Engineer graduated from La Sapienza University of Rome. He has over thirty years of professional experience in the space sector.
He is Scientific Advisor and columnist of LIMES, the geopolitics magazine founded by Prof Lucio Caracciolo.

He is advisor for venture capital private funds for aerospace investments.
He has worked in Italy, France, The Netherlands and French Guiana, in private companies as well as in government space agencies with various managerial roles.

He has been president of the new Marscenter srl of Naples (first founded in the ‘80s, the closed in 2010 and newly recreated in 2019) specialized in scientific experiments onboard the ISS Space Station.
He is co-author of over thirty scientific articles presented at international conferences.
Graduated in 2005 at the 56th IASD course of the Centro Alti Studi Difesa. He has been member of the board of directors of national and international companies in the aerospace sector.
He is professor at the Masters in “Space Systems” at the “La Sapienza” University of Rome and at the Masters in “Aerospace Systems Engineering” at the University of Cagliari / Sassari.

He is the author of the popular book “Lo Spazio oltre la Terra” published by Giunti, and of the academic textbook “Elements of Management of Space Programs” published by Springer-Verlag also translated into English and Chinese.
In 2019 he published the book “Geopolitics of Space Exploration” published in Italian by Rubbettino Editore, and published in English by Springer-Verlag in 2021.
He is a member of the Academie Francaise de l’Aeronautique et de l ‘Espace in Toulouse, and of the American Association of Aeronautics & Astronautics.
He is columnist for the monthly Airpress magazine for aerospace and defense policies, and for the political and economic information website www.formiche.net.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Planetek Italia. He is also Vice Chairman of EARSC (European Association of Remote Sensing Companies), and Board member at SME4SPACE (the European Space SMEs Association) and AIPAS (the Italian Space Industries Association).

Degree in Physics. He has produced several publications in the field of analysis of signals and images and of space systems. Since 1984, he cooperated in several Earth Observation projects with the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and with NASA. He was a director of the ASI Center of Space Geodesy facility. He has been also an Italian Delegate at the European Space Agency’s Earth Observation Program Board and Professor at IUAV – University of Venice, Italy.

Professor Associate at IUSS University, Pavia and Senior Scientist in Remote Sensing and Surface Process at the Institute for Environmental Protection and Research Rome. He has degrees from the University of Perugia and Master Business Administration applied to environment from Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna Pisa. His doctorate was undertaken jointly between the University of Perugia and the LDEO of Columbia University. He is actually teaching at IUSS Pavia “Economical aspect of Space Strategy” and “GIS and Geomatics.
Scientific Member of the Copernicus Academy Italian Consortium: Polytechnic of Torino, Polytechnic of Milano, La Sapienza University, Firenze Univeristy, IUSS Pavia and Napoli Federico II. He is Italian national delegate at the European Commission Copernicus User Forum and Copernicus Committee. He is the National Expert to the Destination Earth Iniziative of the DG Connect. He is a member of the ‘Technical Space Committee” at the Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri. Member of the Joint Scientific Committee of ASI-ISPRA, head of the Space Economy implementation Group in ISPRA and delegate to the Comitato di Sorveglianza della Space Economy at Ministry of Sustainable Industrial Development.

Dominique holds the title of Honorary Senator in Belgium. She has a Master’s Degree in Political Science, « International Relations and Diplomatic studies», at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (1975).

During her electing mandates in the Belgian parliament, which spanned 27 years, she invested a lot of energy in space matters. She held the position of Chair of the « Belgian Senate Space Group» and she also presided over the «European Interparliamentary Space conference ».

In 2016, she was elected Chair of Eurisy, a non- profit Association which aims to bridge space and Society. She is also a Member of the Advisory Council of ESPI (European Space Policy Institute) in Vienna and, a Member of the Board of Vitrociset Belgium. She also serves on the Advisory Board of Europlanet 2024 RI.

Concerned by the difficulties of the space industry to recruit young graduates, she launched YouSpace in 2014, with the aim of connecting Master’s students and Young professionals with space leaders.

Observing that few students choose space studies and most of them are unaware of the numerous fields and jobs in the space sector, she launched in 2018 “Switch to Space” an event with 50 speaker’s representing experts in space and more than 500 students who discovered the great diversity of the sector. Following the success of this event, “Switch to space “is planned to repeat every two years.

Through the combination of her long political expertise and her knowledge of civil society, she is really persuaded that Space must also focus on the world of end-users and public decision makers.

She believes whole-heartedly that space applications definitively provide important real benefits and amazing opportunities for all of us on earth!

Since June 1, 2016 Jean-Jacques Tortora serves as the Director of the European Space Policy Institute. From 2007 to mid 2016 he was the Secretary General of ASD-Eurospace, which is the trade association of the European Space Industry. From 2004 to mid 2007, he was head of the French Space Agency (CNES) office in North America and the Attaché for Space and Aeronautics at the Embassy of France in Washington, D.C. Previously he was Deputy Director for Strategy and Programs, responsible for the Industrial Strategy of CNES, the French Space Agency. Prior to that position, he was France’s representative in the ESA Industrial Policy Committee and Joint Communication Board. From 1998 to 2000, Mr. Tortora was adviser to the French Ministry of Research for Industrial Policy Funds management, aiming at industry competitiveness support and new space applications and services development and promotion. From 1996 to 1998, he was appointed by Arianespace in Evry, France, to lead a risk mitigation and cost reduction plan covering to the end of operational life of the Ariane 4 launcher. From 1990 to 1996, Mr. Tortora was based in Kourou, French Guiana, as Head of Arianespace Operations Quality Department. There, he led the Quality Management of the Ariane 4 launchers final integration and of the launch pad operations and maintenance. He supervised the industrialization and the implementation of the associated control plans. Mr. Tortora started his career in 1984 at the French military procurement agency, DGA, as a naval weapons integration and test engineer, expert in signal processing and warships acoustic discretion.

Ersilia Vaudo holds a degree in Astrophysics. In 2020 she obtained an Executive Certificate from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard Kennedy School. Since 1991, she has worked at the European Space Agency in Paris where she is currently ESA Chief Diversity Officer and Special Advisor on Strategic Evolution. During his 30-year career, between Paris and the USA, he has held various roles mainly in the field of strategy. Between 2002 and 2006, she worked at the ESA office in Washington DC (USA), looking after relations with NASA in particular. She was a member of the Board of Directors of Women in Aerospace US. In 2020, she was part of the Task Force ‘Women for a New Renaissance’ set up by the Minister of Equal Opportunities and Family, where she contributed to the formulation of proposals on ‘Research, STEM and Skills Training’, later included in the first National Strategy on Gender Equality. Ersilia Vaudo is co-chair of the recommendations on Talents and the Future of Work within the ‘Scale-Up Europe’ initiative, launched in 2020 by French President Emmanuel Macron to revitalise the Tech ecosystem in Europe. In December 2020, she was assigned the role of Curator of the XXII International Exhibition of the Milan Triennale on the theme ‘Unknown Unknowns. An introduction to mysteries’ which will open in May 2022. Ersilia Vaudo is President and co-founder of the Association ‘Il Cielo itinerante’ to promote STEM literacy by taking ‘the sky where it doesn’t reach’, with a telescope on a minibus and STEM camps, among boys and girls in areas of hardship and educational poverty. He is Vice President of Eurisy, a non-profit association comprising 30 European space agencies, with the aim of promoting the relationship between space and society. In 2020, he received the prestigious International Astronautical Federation’s Excellence Diversity Award for the space sector for ESA. In October 2020, she received the International ‘Technovisionaries 2020, Special Europe Award’ from the Women&Technologies Association. In 2021 she was included among the “InspiringFifty 2021”, which awards the 50 most influential women in science and technology in Italy. In May 2022, she was appointed as an expert member of the Technical and Scientific Committee of the Observatory for the Integration of Gender Equality Policies of the Ministry for Equal Opportunities and Family. In May 2022, she was awarded the honour ‘Commendatore dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia’ by the President of the Italian Republic. Ersilia Vaudo Scarpetta has participated as a speaker in various TEDx Talks in Europe and has written numerous articles for the general public on science and space convinced of the inspiring power of science on the younger generations.

Elodie Viau joined ESA as Director of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications from 1 September 2020. For 12 years prior to this, Ms Viau worked for SES. As Vice-President for Technology Program Management, she led new space segment development as well as end-to-end system design and implementation of new integrated services. Previously, she was the SES Program Manager of nine satellites built by Airbus. She gained two MSc: respectively from Télécom Sud Paris and from the International Space University complemented by an MBA from the Open University.

In 2015, she moved from ASI to the European Commission to work for Copernicus, the European Union program on Earth Observation and monitoring. She experienced the policy-making environment of the European Commission, providing as Seconded National Expert, her technical and programmatic experience in support to the structured decision-making processes of the European institutions. In 2021 Cristina joined the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) as the leader of the Copernicus National Collaboration and thematic hubs team in the User Engagement and Outreach section.

Brig. Gen. Roberto Vittori is an Air Force officer, a pilot, a test pilot, and an astronaut. He has logged more than 2500 hours on 50 different types of aircrafts and has flown in space three times both with the Soyuz (2002 and 2005) and with the Space Shuttle (2011). He has extensive experience in space diplomacy having been the (first) Italian space attaché at the Embassy of Italy in Washington DC. He has a number of recognitions and awards amongst which a gold medal to Aeronautical Value from the President of the Italian Republic, a gold medal for space exploration from the NASA Administrator, and a medal from the President of the Russian Federation. Roberto has been the first Italian to fly on the Soyuz, the first non russian to be fully qualified as Soyuz commander. His vision is for a future based on extra-atmospheric resources as only opportunity for the global economy and as only hope for our ecosystem.

Connie Walker is a Scientist at the US national center for optical-infrared astronomy (NSF’s NOIRLab). She is involved with light pollution issues on the ground and in space, coordinating NOIRLab’s Office of Observatory Site Protection. She has leadership roles on dark skies protection within the American Astronomical Society, the International Astronomical Union and the International Dark-Sky Association. In 2020 and 2021, she co-chaired four conferences focusing on the impacts of satellite constellations (and artificial light at night): SATCON1, SATCON2, and Dark & Quiet Skies I & II. Recently, she was appointed co-director of the new IAU Centre on the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference.