SGAC Announces the Winner of the 2025 ESA – SGAC Scholarship
The European Space Agency (ESA), in collaboration with the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) has organised the ESA–SGAC Scholarship. This scholarship is a great opportunity for students and young professionals from emerging countries to share their views on diversity and ESA. The theme for this year’s scholarship was: “Shaping a Resilient Future for Earth from Space.” This scholarship awards students and young professionals from emerging countries to attend the 23rd Space Generation Congress (SGC) and the 76th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) respectively in Sydney, Australia.
The winner was selected based on the quality of a short video on shaping a better and resilient future for our planet from space while confronting the pressing challenges of sustainability and ethical responsibility and their motivation for participating in the 23rd SGC (theme: “Shaping a Resilient Future for Earth from Space”) and the 76th IAC (theme: “Sustainable Space: Resilient Earth”)
Congratulations to Seppe!
Seppe Frison (Belgium)
Seppe Frison is a Belgian mechanical engineering student, currently graduating from KU Leuven in the MSc of Mechanical Engineering after a year-long exchange at Politecnico di Milano specialising in Space Engineering. He combines a strong technical foundation with an MSc in Management from KU Leuven, bringing both engineering expertise and business acumen to space initiatives. Seppe recently completed his master’s thesis at D-Orbit, where he analysed and designed components for propulsion units. His previous experience includes contributing to Redwire Space, designing modular vibration test containers for ISS experiments, and developing an affordable CubeSat platform with CATECH. He has served as local president and Connect Region Forum Coordinator for the IAESTE network, facilitating international internship exchanges and events. Recently, Seppe was part of the winning team at the first SGAC BeNeLux Space Startup Competition. He has also created business plans for imec and excelled in case competitions with McKinsey & Company, BCG, and Google Cloud. Currently, he is a participant in the Space Studies Program 2025 of the International Space University in Seoul, South Korea. As a graduate of leadership programmes including The Belgian Leadership Project, Seppe aims to contribute to advancing European capabilities in space, in order to achieve climate change resilience on Earth.
I am truly honored to have been awarded the ESA–SGAC Scholarship 2025, granting me the opportunity to attend both the SGC and the IAC in Sydney this year. I am more than excited to experience these prestigious events and to explore the many opportunities they will present.
