Panels

The 7th E-SGW will feature a series of panels with experts across the space industry and academia to complement our Working Groups. Speakers will engage in insightful discussions about what is next for European Space.

Panel I – Charting a Path Forward: Challenges and Opportunities for Space Exploration

The panel will discuss the current state and future of space exploration, highlighting the challenges and opportunities in this field. Our panelists will share their insights on the latest technologies, policies, and strategies that can help propel humanity’s journey to the stars.

Date: 28th April, 10:45 – 11:30

Moderated by: Giuliana Rotola (Sant’Anna school of Advanced studies)

Panelists:

Antonino Salmeri (SWF + Open Lunar)

Carlo Mirra is an entrepreneurial senior executive with more than 30 years’ experience in the international space field. Currently, he is Sales Director (ESA Lead Key Account Manager)  in the Institutional Business Growth division of Airbus Defence and Space.

Carlo holds an aerospace engineering degree at the University of Naples (MSc), followed by a post-graduation specialization in re-entry aerodynamics at the von Karman Institute in Brussels, Belgium.

He has managed European human spaceflight operations in several ESA missions with NASA and Roscosmos for almost 10 years (three years collocated at ESTEC).

Before that, Carlo was Infrastructure, Sales and Services Director at Intospace (GER) and SpaceHab (USA). In this capacity, he was responsible for European commercial sales of SpaceHab services

In his earlier career days, Carlo worked at the MARS Center (ITA) where he soon became responsible for the setup of the Italian User Support Center for ISS operations.

Carlo is very engaged in voluntary activities with both aerospace professional’s organizations and young generation coaching and mentorship via ISU, TU Delft, SGAC and the University of Naples.

He is a long lasting volunteer with the International Astronautical Federation (IAF). Starting in 1989, he contributed to the activities of the Publication (Acta Astronautica), Space Education and Space Operations Committees. He chaired the Human Space Flight Committee. He is currently member of the IPC-Steering Group and chair of the Industrial Relations Committee. He was the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award in 2016.

He was the recipient of several ISS mission awards, author of more than 50 papers, flew almost 200 parabolas and ranked 4th in the 1998 ESA/ASI astronaut selection.

Carlo lived and worked in Italy, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and US. He has a strong understanding of cultural differences and is an eager promoter of diversity on the workplace.

He is married to Nadia and is a father of two (an architect and a soon-to-be molecular chemist). He is an undisciplined guitar player and an avid football (soccer) fan.

Giorgia Manca is the Strategy and Innovation Advisor of REA, an Apulian-based innovative startup which develops clothing and protective tools for humans in space. With a multi-years experience in Innovation and Strategy Consulting at Deloitte Officine Innovazione, in REA she has the role of analyzing the market and developing the innovation strategy of the Company. 

Maria Antonietta got a Degree in Nuclear Engineering at the Politecnico di Torino. In 1988 she attended the International Space University (M.I.T., Boston, USA) and then became Faculty Member. She is currently member of the ISU Academic Council. 

Since 1986 she has been working at Thales Alenia Space – Turin, as Program Manager of major ESA and ASI activities related to Moon and Mars exploration. Currently she is Director Space Economy Exploration and International Network.

Maria Antonietta is involved in different activities promoting the development of young professionals in the space industry.  

She is author of several publications, papers, and reports, and Acta Astronautica Co-Editor.

Member of the Académie de l’Air et de l’Espace and of the International Academy of Astronautics, and former IAF Bureau Vice President. She is President of Explore Mars Europe. Awarded “Woman of Excellence 2010” by AIDDA and “Stella al Merito del Lavoro” by the Italian Republic President.

Board of Director member of Women in Aerospace–Europe, International Lunar Observatory Association, World Space Week Association.

Panel II – Investing in the Final Frontier: A Discussion on the Future of Space Business and Space Economy

The panel will discuss the current trajectory and potential for a new space economy, and the accompanying business opportunities that may come as a result. Our panelists will share their insights on the latest business trends, government policies, and funding opportunities that will help to shape this new market.

Date: 28th April, 14:15 – 15:00

Moderated by: Alessia Godler (SGAC)

Panelists:

Giorgio Mariani (Deloitte Legal)

Hamza Hameed is a Pakistani lawyer presently serving as the Chair of the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC). Hamza works as a Legal Consultant at the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) in Rome. He leads the effort towards establishing an international system of secured transactions law for the space sector, as well as advising governments on issues related to blockchain law and crypto law. 

Hamza holds an LLM from the International Institute for Air and Space Law at Leiden University. He teaches spacecraft financing at various universities and is a member of the International Institute for Space Law (IISL) and INSOL International.

Florian Marmuse is the Commercialisation Officer at the Directorate CIP (Commercialisation, Industry, Procurement), led by Géraldine Naja. This is part of the Department Commercialisation, whose head is Luca del Monte.

As part of the commercialisation department at ESA/ESTEC, Florian has worked in strengthening the relations between ESA, the start-up ecosystem, and the investor community since September 2022. He is the point of contact for the ESA Investor Network established in 2022 and works across ESA to increase the participation of new companies in the programmes and the entrepreneurial mindset of the ESA workforce.

Prior to this, Florian was Head of Strategy and Corporate Development at Latitude, the leading French micro-launcher company. Involved in public and governmental relations, fundraising as well as day-to-day management, he saw the growth of the company from 20 to 60 employees and its establishment as a credible actor in the French industrial ecosystem. 

Before joining Latitude, Florian was project manager for smallsat projects, and involved in the early phases of different space companies, with a core focus on small satellites and electric propulsion.

Florian holds a PhD in Plasma Physics from Sorbonne University (FR), a MSc in Aerospace Engineering from École Polytechnique (FR) and ISAE-SUPAERO (FR), a MSc in Astrophysics and Planetology from Université Paul Sabatier (FR) as well as a certificate in Business Foundations from INSEAD (FR).

 

Vito Albino is professor of Innovation and Project Management at the Politecnico di Bari in Italy. 

At the same university, he chaired the Dipartimento di Ingegneria Meccanica e Gestionale and served as vice-rector for research and technology transfer. 

He has been the President of the Board of the Italian Association of Management Engineering (AiIG) and President of the Apulia Technology District for Mechatronics (MEDIS).

He is now President of the Agency for Technology and Innovation (ARTI) of the Apulia Region (Italy), member of the management board of the Network of European Regions Using Space Technologies (NEREUS), chair of the Transition Committee of the European Center for Space Economy and Commerce (ECSECO) of the European Space Agency, and member of the advisory board of UniCredit bank for the Southern Italy.

He is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Criptaliae Spaceport (Grottaglie).

His research fields are related to innovation processes in production chains and industrial clusters with particular interest to environmental aspects and space economy. 

 

 

Panel III – Advancing the European Space Industry towards Sustainability, Safety, and Digitization

The panel will discuss the role of sustainability, safety, digitization, and collaboration in improving the efficiency and impact of European space operations and missions. Our panelists will share their insights on the latest capabilities under development that promise to boost sustainability in years to come.

Date: 29th April, 10:00 – 10:45

Moderated by: Morgane Lecas (Astroscale)

Panelists:

Radim is an entrepreneur with a background in software development, ground segment design and satellite communications. He is the co-founder and CEO of Groundspace, a startup focusing on ground segment and mission support solutions for emerging types of space missions such as constellations of small satellites. Radim has over ten years of experience designing innovative solutions for communication satellite operators. He is currently based in Montpellier, France

Sebastian has 5+ years of experience in the development of spacecraft propulsion and refuelling systems. Previously he was the coordinator of refuelling projects at Thales Alenia Space in the UK and the lead engineer of the ESPRIT bipropellant refuelling system supporting the Lunar Gateway. He has a passion for space sustainability and is excited to be moving spacecraft design away from the single use paradigm.

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.

Panel IV – Inspiring the Next Generation: Education and Outreach Initiatives in the Space Industry

This panel will explore the importance of education and outreach initiatives in inspiring the next generation of space professionals. Panelists will discuss innovative approaches to engaging and inspiring students in space-related fields, the impact of space exploration on society and the environment, and how to convey this to the next generation. The panel will also explore the role of public outreach and education initiatives in promoting the space industry and how space industry companies can collaborate with educational institutions to promote space-related education and outreach initiatives.   

Date: 29th April, 14:30 – 15:15

Moderated by: Ada Ranieri (Poliba)

Panelists:

Francesco Giordano (UniBa)

Francesco Bottiglione (Poliba)

Since 2015, Maria Cinefra has been Associate Professor of Aerospace Structures, at the Polytechnic of Turin before and at the Department of Mechanics, Mathematics and Management of the Polytechnic of Bari starting from 2019. After the Bachelor and Master Degrees in Aerospace Engineering at the Polytechnic of Turin, she started her Ph.D. under co-tutorship between the Polytechnic of Turin and the University of Paris-Ouest of Nanterre. During the doctorate she was awarded the Best Student Paper presented at the “International Conference on Composite Structures” (ICCS16) held in Porto in 2011. In the following years, she has collaborated on important research projects, both at national and European level, such as the Clean Sky 2 CASTLE, in which she has proposed innovative solutions based on “metamaterials” in order to mitigate the noise in the airplane cabin. Moreover, she has been invited to participate in international conferences in order to hold plenary sessions about research topics of her competence: composite materials models, shell finite elements, meshless methods, Smart Structures, thermal stress analysis, multi-field interactions in the structures, advanced cinematic theories for shells, mixed variational methods, local-global methods, vibroacoustic analysis and non-linear problems.

With a Master’s degree in Geography and Territorial Sciences and a specific background on physical geography, GIS and remote sensing, he works in Planetek Italia as Technical Assistant. He is involved in several company’s projects such as the Copernicus Coastal Zones map production and validation, and Urban Heat Island (UHI) analysis and monitoring using satellite data. In the context of UHI projects he had the opportunity to take part in different phases, from data processing to product development, going through the collection and evaluation of requirements and feedbacks from different European and Italian cities in order to tailor and improve operational services. He is also involved in the technical maintenance and improvement of Planetek’s Rheticus® Services, and to pre-processing and validation of Services input geospatial data. Together with geo-based technical activities, he is responsible for the management of the Company’s LMS platform (eolearning.planetek.it) since its launch in late 2021, for the provision of on-line courses about remote sensing and Earth Observation. Within this scope, he provides technical support to platform users and works on the definition and the implementation of system’s developments and courses design, according to users’ feedbacks and system evolution roadmap.