Making Space Matter Summit

Claude-France Arnould maintains extensive experience in the European defence and space sectors. Prior to joining IFRI, she was a diplomatic advisor to the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, in which role she was entrusted with a mission regarding space. Arnould has previously served as the French ambassador to Belgium, special envoy for space at the European External Action Service and chief executive of the European Defence Agency. She headed the Crisis Management and Planning Directorate at the Council of the European Union, after being director for defence matters at the Council. Arnould is the former director of international and strategic affairs at the General Secretariat of National Defence. She has also worked on community issues at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Thirty years ago, Josef Aschbacher began his career at the European Space Agency (ESA) where he was seconded as the ESA Representative to Southeast Asia at the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok. Later, he joined the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Ispra, Italy, where he served as scientific assistant to the Director of the Space Applications Institute. Upon his return to ESA headquarters in Paris, he was tasked with advancing Copernicus activities within ESA, going on to become head of the Copernicus Space Office, where he led all activities for Copernicus within the Agency and with external partners, in particular the European Commission. Before taking office as the ESA’s Director General, Aschbacher was entrusted with planning the ESA’s Earth Observation Programme, as well as formulating and implementing programmatic and strategic decisions across the Directorate.

Guillem Anglada-Escudé is a well-known astrophysicist and scientist, whose current work focuses on exoplanet detection and planetary exploration. Most notably, Guillem and his team discovered the Proxima b exoplanet orbiting Proxima Centauri, our closest neighbouring star and the nearest star to the Sun. He- has previously worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Carnegie Institution for Science, University of Goettingen, as well as Queen Mary University of London, where he became a reader in astronomy. He has conducted research in several countries and has been actively engaged with space agencies, such as NASA and the European Space Agency. In 2016, Guillem was named among the ten most prominent scientists worldwide by Science Magazine and one of TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world.

Ricardo Conde is the President of the Portuguese Space Agency, prior to which he served the Portuguese Space Agency, Portugal Space as a member of the board. Early on in his professional career, he started working in the aeronautics and space sector. Since, Conde has participated in several national and international programmes, particularly in space and ground segments.

Cecilia Donati started her EU career at the cabinet of the Vice-President for Industry and Entrepreneurship at the European Commission. She has over a decade of experience in EU-related affairs and the science-policy nexus. Her main fields of work include space and earth observation, specifically Copernicus and space research, as well as marine and ocean environmental policies with a strong focus on innovation and research related to the sustainable use of ocean and marine environment, the blue economy and blue growth.

Olayinka Fagbemiro is a Chief Scientific Officer at the Nigerian Space Agency, where she has worked for 15 years. She currently heads the Space Education Outreach Unit of the agency and is a member of the Planning, Policy and Research team. She is also the Founder and National Coordinator of a STEM-based NGO, Astronomers Without Borders (AWB) in Nigeria. Fagbemiro is a PhD candidate at the Geoinformatics Department at the African University of Science and Technology (AUST) and a 2020-21 TechWomen Fellow for Nigeria. TechWomen is an initiative of the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Aarti Holla-Maini has been Secretary-General of the GSOA since 2004. She is a Member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Space, the WEF Global 5G Coalition Network and the WEF Essential Digital Infrastructure & Services Network. Under Aarti’s leadership, GSOA & its member CEOs lead the effort to showcase the benefits of satellite communications for a more inclusive and secure society – vital to bridging the world’s digital divide, achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and realizing the 5G ecosystem. Aarti has over two decades of experience in the aerospace industry, starting at Daimler-Benz Aerospace/EADS (now Airbus) in Germany. In 2000, she moved to Brussels, representing Airbus interests in the European satellite navigation program: Galileo.

Guillaume Loonis-Quélen is a space law expert, who opened the Loonis-Quélen law firm. A specialist in maritime security and labour law, he is also an expert in international and space law, which he studied at the European Centre for Space Law, established under the auspices of the European Space Agency (ESA). Previously, Loonis-Quélen has notably worked at eSpace, the Space Centre of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), and as an associate expert at the International Labour Organization.

Tanja Masson-Zwaan is the President Emerita of the International Institute of Space Law (IISL) and faculty at International Space University (ISU). She advises the Dutch government on space law issues and co-founded the Hague International Space Resources Governance Working Group. She is an elected member of various associations, including the International Academy of Astronautics, the International Law Association and the Académie de l’Air et de l’Espace. Masson-Zwaan also sits on the boards of the Arizona State University Interplanetary Initiative, the Open Lunar Foundation and the Space Generation Advisory Council. Previously, she was a member of the European Centre for Space Law Board, Women in Aerospace Europe and the Advisory Committee of Secure World Foundation.

Susmita Mohanty is a spaceship designer and serial space entrepreneur. Mohanty is the only space entrepreneur in the world to have co-founded companies on 3 different continents: EARTH2ORBIT Bangalore, MOONFRONT, San Francisco and LIQUIFER Systems Group, Vienna. Most recently, she launched Spaceport SARABHAI – ‘India’s first dedicated space think tank’ that hopes to re-centre the global space narrative, give India an international voice, grow the body of knowledge that informs critical areas of space law and policy, and help transform India into a developed space economy by 2030.

Alfredo is a Spanish architect, who has designed and managed more than six million square metres across five continents. Under Alfredo’s leadership, his architectural, urban and interior design firm has designed projects in a wide range of scales, from large urban developments and affordable housing townships to small temporal structures. Before founding ABIBOO, Alfredo held senior roles at Toyo Ito and SOM. Internationally-renowned, Alfredo was recognised among the most important and emerging young architects and designers by the European Centre and the Chicago Athenaeum Architecture Awards, and his work has been featured in various media outlets, including The New York Times, Wallpaper and Domus, among others.

Tidiane Ouattara is the Space Science Expert in charge of the development and implementation of the African Outer Space Programme, as well as the Coordinator for the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES & Africa) Programme at the African Union Commission. Previously based in Canada, he has, through various positions at the Canadian Space Agency, Department of Natural Resources and Department of Environment, built expertise in issues related to the environment, natural resources, sciences and technologies, as well as geospatial data management.

Sékou Ouedraogo is the Founding President of the African Aeronautics & Space Organisation (AASO), which aims to promote cooperation and investments on space on the African continent to contribute to its sustainable development. An electrical engineer and international policy expert by training, he has worked on several aeronautical programmes in international industrial groups. He has also published a book on the African Space Agency and is an editorialist on space and aeronautics for several media outlets, including BBC, France 24, RFI and Deutsche Welle.

Paul Taylor is a Senior Fellow at Friends of Europe and the author of the think tank’s European Defence Cooperation report series. He previously spent four decades working for Reuters as a foreign correspondent in Paris, Tehran, Bonn and Brussels, as bureau chief in Israel/Palestine, Berlin and Brussels, as chief correspondent in France, as diplomatic editor in London, and finally as European affairs editor. Taylor’s assignments have included covering the Iranian revolution, the Cold War Euromissile crisis, the 1991 Gulf War, German reunification, the Maastricht summit, France in the 1990s, EU enlargement, the Eurozone crisis and the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood government in Egypt.

Dirk Van Speybroeck is a Strategy Advisor on international business development at VITO Remote Sensing. VITO is a leading European independent research and technology organisation in cleantech and sustainable development, including land use and remote sensing. With over 30 years of experience in various national and international positions, he has worked as GIS and natural resources project coordinator at UNEP, as coordinator of the SPOT VEGETATION image processing and archiving centre, as coordinator of the Global Monitoring for Food Security project, and as manager of the VITO Remote Sensing Research Unit. He is also the former deputy chief in the Belgian Cabinet of the State Secretary for Science Policy, including space policy.

Elodie Viau is the Director of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications at the European Space Agency (ESA). Before joining ESA, Viau worked for SES, one of the world’s leading satellite owners and operators, for over a decade, most notably serving as director of SES New Space Segment Development and, until recently, as vice-president for SES Technology Programme Management. At SES, she was also a satellite programmes senior engineer, in which role she served as a deputy programme manager for six satellites and programme manager for three satellites built by Airbus Space.