Meet your Speakers!
Opening Ceremony
Éric Morel de Westgaver
Dir. Strategy, Legal & Ext. Matters
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 became Head of the Industrial Policy and Cost Analysis Department in the Directorate of Industrial Matters and Technology Programmes.
Mr Morel de Westgaver had been Director of Procurement, Financial Operations and Legal Affairs since April 2011 and before that, Head of the Procurement Department since October 2004 in the Directorate of Resources Management and Industrial Matters. In addition to this responsibility he was nominated Associate Director for Industrial Matters by the Director General in February 2010. In November 2013, he became Director of Industry, Procurement and Legal Services (D/IPL).
On 20 May 2021, a reorganisation was announced, with the setting up of the new Directorate of European, Legal and International Matters, for which Mr Morel de Westgaver was assigned as Director. Following an internal reorganisation of the Agency’s Corporate function and services, the Directorate was renamed Directorate of Strategy, Legal and External Matters on 1 April 2024.
Géraldine Naja
Dir. Space Transportation
From France, Ms Naja has 30-year experience in the European space sector in managerial and strategy development positions.
She graduated from the French École Polytechnique with a degree in engineering and then from École Nationale Supérieure de Techniques Avancées (ENSTA) with a Masters degree in propulsion and chemistry. She also has a Masters degree in political sciences from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po).
She joined ESA in 1987 as a Payload Operations Engineer in the Space Station Directorate. She then served in various corporate and programmatic functions across the Agency between 1993 and 2015, including Head of Long-term Space Policy Office, Head of Strategic and Institutional Matters in the ESA Director General’s Cabinet, Head of EU Relations Office, and Senior Advisor to the Director of Launchers. She was also seconded from ESA for one year (2003-4) as Advisor for the Cabinet of the French Minister of Research and Higher Education.
Ms Naja was Head of the ESA’s Industrial Policy and Audit Department since 2015. She served as acting Director when the new Directorate of Commercialisation, Industry and Procurement was created in May 2021, in response to the Director General’s Agenda 2025 for the future development of ESA, with commercialisation as one of its strategic priorities.
Prior to stepping into her new role, Géraldine Naja led the Directorate of Commercialisation, Industry and Competitiveness (D/CIC), now evolved into the Directorate of Commercialisation and Industry Partnership (D/CIP). In that capacity, she advanced commercialisation and competitiveness as a strategic priority for ESA, developing new approaches and instruments to strengthen the European space sector and foster a more dynamic, market-oriented ecosystem.
🛰️DG Session🛰️
Marco Ferrazzani
Dir. Resources and Services
Dr Ferrazzani joined ESA in 1988, as a Legal Administrator and Legal Advisor for ESA programmes. In 2005, he became Head of Division in Legal Affairs, and since 2010, ESA Legal Counsel and Head of Legal Services Department.
As ESA Legal Counsel, Dr Ferrazzani has been advisor to the ESA Director General and managed an international team of lawyers qualified in all areas relevant to space programmes, including interpretation of the ESA Convention, regulations, national legislation, as well as legal, policy and regulatory instruments to develop the space sector.
Dr Ferrazzani gained his PhD in law from the University of Naples. His postgraduate legal studies included courses at Georgetown University Law Center, Harvard Law School and the University of Salzburg. He undertook further studies at the Institut des Hautes Études de la Défense Nationale IHEDN, École Militaire, Paris.
Before joining ESA, he was admitted to legal practice at the bar in Italy and practiced law in the Milan office of a leading international commercial law firm.
In 2021, he was awarded the honour of Cavaliere (Knight) dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia by the President of the Italian Republic.
Géraldine Naja
Dir. Space Transportation (see above)
Laurent Jaffart
Dir. Resilience, Navigation & Connectivity
From France, Mr Jaffart has over 20 years of experience in the European space sector. He graduated from the University of Brighton in the UK in 2000 with an honours degree in European business and technology, then gained dual Masters in Business Administration degrees from the former ESC Reims (Reims Management School in France) and Dublin City University.
In 2012, Mr Jaffart was awarded a Masters degree in military national resource strategy and policy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (now Eisenhower School) at the National Defence University in Washington DC.
Before joining ESA, Mr Jaffart worked for Airbus Defence and Space as Vice-President and Head of Strategy, Corporate and New Business Development in Space Systems, leading a trans-national team based in France, Germany and the UK. He simultaneously served as a member of the Space System Executive Board and as a member of the Airbus OneWeb Satellites Board.
Previously, Mr Jaffart worked in various roles at the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), that went on to become part of Airbus Defence and Space in 2015. These included notably Vice-President and Head of Sales & Marketing Business Growth for Space Systems, Head of Strategy at Astrium Satellites (a subsidiary of EADS) based in Ottobrun, Germany, where he was responsible for the OneWeb bid for the first generation of the constellation and the creation of the joint-venture Airbus OneWeb Satellites.
As Director of Connectivity and Secure Communications, Mr Jaffart was responsible for ESA’s satellite telecommunication programmes, namely the implementation of the full portfolio of ARTES 4.0 projects in partnership with European and Canadian industries and operators and developing the programme’s commercial nature.
This also included the strategic programme lines related to 5G/6G non-terrestrial network integration, secure communications, and quantum/optical technologies and for the new portfolio of programmes approved at the ESA Ministerial Council in 2022, namely the ESA contribution to EU Secure Connectivity Programme IRIS2, Moonlight, and Civil Security from Space.
Mr Jaffart was reassigned to the newly created position of Director of Resilience, Navigation and Connectivity Directorate (D/RNC) taking effect from 1 February 2026.
This new position reflects ESA’s commitment to bolstering resilience and enhancing navigation and connectivity in line with the security and defence priorities of its Member States, the European Union and defence-related agencies in Europe.
Establishing a clear design authority within ESA is crucial for the European Resilience from Space (ERS) programme's success and for the timely development of essential security and defence technologies, ensuring that systems are designed and delivered in line with Member States’ needs.
Josef Aschbacher
Director General of ESA
Josef Aschbacher became the ESA Director General on 1 March 2021.
Born in Austria, Josef Aschbacher studied at the University of Innsbruck, graduating
with a Master’s and a Doctoral degree in natural sciences. He became a research
scientist at the university’s Institute of Meteorology and Geophysics from 1985 to 1989.
He began his career in ESA in 1990 as a Young Graduate at ESRIN. From 1991 to
1993 he was seconded as ESA Representative to Southeast Asia to the Asian Institute
of Technology in Bangkok, Thailand, where he initiated major cooperation
programmes between the EC, ESA and Southeast Asia.
From 1994 to 2001 he worked at the European Commission Joint Research Centre in
Ispra, Italy, where he was the Scientific Assistant to the Director of the Space
Applications Institute, being responsible for scientific strategy and resource allocation.
He returned to ESA headquarters, in Paris, in 2001 as Programme Coordinator, where
he was primarily responsible for advancing Copernicus within ESA.
In 2006 he became Head of the Copernicus Space Office, located at ESRIN near
Rome, Italy, where he led all activities for Copernicus within the agency and with
external partners, in particular the European Commission.
In 2014, he was promoted to Head of Programme Planning and Coordination at
ESRIN, where he was responsible for planning ESA’s Earth Observation programmes
and for formulating and implementing programmatic and strategic decisions across
the Directorate.
In 2016, Josef Aschbacher was appointed as Director of Earth Observation
Programmes, ESA’s largest Directorate, and as Head of ESRIN, ESA’s centre for
Earth observation. Under his leadership, Europe developed the world’s leading Earth
observation programme, which includes all Sentinel missions as part of the EU-led
Copernicus programme, all meteorological missions for Eumetsat and the Earth
Explorer, Scout and phi-sat missions developed for ESA Member States. In 2020, a
total of 40 satellites were under development and ESA disseminated the world’s
largest Earth observation data volumes
🌐ESA Behind the scenes: External and Internal Relations🌐
Celine Begon
Head of the EU Relations Office
Ms. Céline Begon, former advisor for space affairs at the Permanent Representation of France to the European Union in Brussels, joins the European Space Agency.
Ms. Céline Begon, until now Director of European Public Affairs at Thales Alenia Space, former advisor for space affairs at the Permanent Representation of France to the European Union in Brussels, joins the European Space Agency as Head of the Office for Relations with the European Union and Head of the ESA Office in Brussels.
Born in 1988, a graduate of the Toulouse Institute of Political Studies, Ms. Céline Begon joined the French Embassy in Washington, D.C., where she served as a defense analyst (2011-2012) and then as deputy attaché for space affairs (2012-2014). She was then appointed to a mission on the security of European space programs at the General Secretariat for Defense and National Security (2014-2018) at French Prime Minister office. In August 2018, she was appointed advisor for space affairs at the Permanent Representation of France to the European Union and chair of the Space Group at the Council of the European Union from January to June 2022, during the French Presidency. Since October 2022, Ms. Begon has been Director of European Public Affairs at Thales Alenia Space. She was also Key Account Manager - European Union at Thales, since May 2025.
At ESA, she is the new Head of EU relations office and Head of the ESA Brussels office, acting as the main channel of communication towards the EU institutions (European Council, European Parliament and European Commission).
Alexander Soucek
Head of External Relations Department
Hermann Moeller
Director of ESPI
Olivier Lemaitre
Eurospace Secretary General
Olivier Lemaitre is Eurospace Secretary General. A biologist by training and with a first career in nature conservation, O. Lemaitre get himself lost in space 20 years ago, first as part of the Belgian federal administration. He later joined the private sector with positions in Thales Alenia Space, as Head of EU Affairs and now Eurospace, where one of his main mission is to ensure that the association provides relevant information and recommendations to the decision-makers to help them make the best use of the capabilities and expertise of the European space Industry.
🚀Launching Europe to Space🚀
Louis Laurent
Head of Ariane Programme
Jean-Noel Caruana
FLPP Programme Manager
French, 59 years old
SUPAERO 1989
Current position: ESA Space Transportation Directorate, FLPP Programme Manager
CV: 1991-2001: Snecma Vernon
2001-2006: Arianespace
2006-today: ESA Space Transportation
Donatella Ponziani
📈CM25 results towards 2040📈
Gisela Süss
Head of the Legal Services Department
Dr. Gisela Süss has been Legal Counsel and Head of the Legal Services Department at the European Space Agency since 2022. A lawyer admitted to both the Munich and Paris Bars, she joined ESA in 2001 after private practice in Paris, and has held key legal roles, notably as advisor to the Copernicus Programme and chief negotiator for major agreements. She leads a team of twenty lawyers providing comprehensive legal support and represents ESA internationally, with expertise in international, European, and space law, and advanced legal studies in Germany and France.
Heriberto Saldivar
Head of the Strategy Department
Heriberto Saldivar is the Head of Strategy at the European Space Agency (ESA), a role he has held since 2022. He leads the development of ESA’s long-term strategic vision, including spearheading the creation of ESA Strategy 2040, which charts the path for Europe’s future in space—focusing on prosperity, technological leadership, and the safety of its citizens.
Prior to joining ESA, Heriberto was Managing Director and Partner at Brinc, a global venture capital accelerator. He invested in and advised over 130 technology startups across India, China, Singapore, Australia, Europe, and the MENA region, working across deep tech sectors including robotics, IoT, drones, food tech, and medtech. His role involved helping founders navigate complex markets and scale innovative solutions globally.
He holds a Bachelor's degree in Mechatronics Engineering from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (Mexico) and began his career at Procter & Gamble, where he led teams focused on new product development and production optimization.
Heriberto earned a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from National Cheng Kung University (Taiwan), contributing to an international scramjet (supersonic engine) research collaboration between Europe and Taiwan. He later completed a PhD in Mechanical Engineering at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, specializing in propulsion systems and atmospheric reentry conditions. His doctoral research was conducted at the PolyU High-Speed Thermo-fluid and MAV/UAV Laboratory as part of the prestigious Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme.
👩💻Career Trajectory: Conversations on Mentorship and Professional Growth👩💻
Some of our speakers will also attend the gala, feel free to reach out there!
Léa Griton-Noël - Panellist
Associate Professor
Léa Griton, PhD, was ranked first for an ESA Research fellowship in 2021, the same year she got the permanent position of Associate Professor at Sorbonne Université. She had just finished 3 years of postdoc at IRAP (Toulouse, France) after her PhD thesis (2015-2028) at Paris Observatory. She completed her master 2 internship at ESTEC in 2015. Now she is PI of the software of an instrumental suite onboard Plasma Observatory (M7 competition at ESA) and is an active member of the BepiColombo scientific team.
Florian Marmuse - Panellist
Florian Marmuse works in Strategy for the Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality (TEC) after acting as Head of the Strategy and Coordination Office in the Commercialisation, Industry and Competitiveness Directorate (CIC) at the European Space Agency (ESA) for three years. In this position, under a Junior Professional contract, he mainly supported the Director in the preparation of CM25 and researched how to evolve ESA in a NewSpace ecosystem. He was also co-lead of the Young ESA Entrepreneurs group and a team member of Gravity Assist, ESA’s Internal Incubator.
Prior to joining ESA in 2022, he was Head of Strategy and Corporate Development at Latitude, a French micro‑launcher company, where he supported its growth with activities ranging from fundraising to public and governmental relations. With a background in small satellites and electric propulsion – including an internship in ESTEC -, Florian holds a PhD in Plasma Physics from Sorbonne University, as well as degrees in aerospace engineering and astrophysics from École Polytechnique and ISAE-SUPAERO, and a business certificate from INSEAD.
Phillip Brefka - Panellist
Systems Engineer
Phillip is a passionate space roboticist and committed contributor to Europe’s space sector. He spent two years as a Young Graduate Trainee at ESTEC, working on the Sample Transfer Arm for the Mars Sample Return programme. Alongside his technical role, he served as Main Coordinator of Young ESA, where he reformed the organisation and secured a major budget increase with his team and ESA management.
In 2026, he moved to the industry as a Satellite Systems Engineer at OHB in Bremen, working for a governmental project using his skills in model-based systems engineering, process design and verification.
Laura Belmond
Solution Engineer at Snowflake
Sophie Pâques
Public Affiars & Launch Strategy Lead at RIDE! Space
