Space solutions for Europe’s challenges: shaping resilience with space technology

Born in Austria, Josef Aschbacher studied at the University of Innsbruck, graduating with a Master’s degree and a PhD in natural sciences. He has had an accomplished international career in space, combining more than 35 years’ work experience at ESA, the European Commission, the Austrian Space Agency, the Asian Institute of Technology and the University of Innsbruck.

As Director General of ESA, Dr Aschbacher is responsible for the definition, implementation and development of Europe’s space infrastructure and activities, which include launchers, satellites performing Earth observation, navigation, telecommunication and space science, together with robotic exploration and ESA astronauts working on the International Space Station. He is responsible for an annual budget of €8.2 billion and a workforce of 6000 distributed across several establishments, principally in Europe.

Simonetta Cheli is the Director of Earth Observation Programmes at the European Space Agency (ESA) and Head of the ESA-ESRIN establishment in Frascati, Rome. She has worked at ESA for over three decades, both at ESA Headquarters in Paris and at ESRIN. She is a member of the ESA management team and the ESA Executive Board and is accountable for formulating the ESA strategy for the Earth Observation (EO) sector, managing the development of EO satellites, in-orbit Mission operations, ground segment data distribution and archiving, science applications and projects. She actively engages with worldwide stakeholders including space agencies, industry, scientific communities, satellite operators, public/private entities, and international partners, managing major partnership programmes like Copernicus and meteorological programmes with the European Commission and EUMETSAT. Additionally, serving as the representative of ESA in Italy and Head of the ESA ESRIN establishment, Simonetta Cheli represents ESA in numerous international fora and acts as a spokesperson with media in worldwide conferences.

A passionate advocate for a stronger European industrial strategy, informed by good environmental practices, Christophe Grudler has been a member of the European Parliament since 2019. In his current role, he supports the acceleration of digitalisation and the need to strengthen Europe’s strategic autonomy in the industry sector. In addition to his committee assignments, he is the shadow rapporteur of the European Industrial Strategy.

Retiring from NATO in September 2018 after 38 years at the organisation, Jamie Shea has occupied a number of senior positions at NATO across a wide range of areas, including external relations, press and media, and policy planning. As NATO’s spokesperson, he was the face of the alliance during the Bosnia and Kosovo conflicts. He later worked as the director of policy planning in the private office of former secretary general Rasmussen during the preparation of NATO’s 2010 Strategic Concept. Shea is also a regular lecturer and conference speaker on NATO and European security affairs.