ESA Programme at IAC 2024

IAC Opening Ceremony

- Live streamed on ESA Web TV 
- IAC Gold Hall

Participants from ESA include:

ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher, ESA Directors and astronauts

RISE Mission Development Contract Signature

Advancing in-orbit servicing technologies

Participants include:

- ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher
- D-Orbit CEO and Founder Luca Rossettini
- Adolfo Urso, Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy
- Italian Space Agency (ASI) President Teodoro Valente
- ESA astronauts

Speakers include:

- ESA Head of Flight Programmes Stefano Bianchi joined by representative(s) from Avio

Moderated by ESA Commercial Space Transportation Programme Manager Thilo Kranz

One-to-One with Heads of Agencies

- Live streamed on ESA Web TV
- Auditorium, Level 3, South Wing

Master of Ceremony: Christian Feichtinger, Executive Director, IAF Secretariat

Opening Welcome: Teodoro Valente, President, Italian Space Agency (ASI)

Moderators:
- Tanja Masson-Zwaan, Assistant Professor and Deputy Director of the International Institute of Air and Space Law (IIASL), Leiden University
- Clay Mowry, President, International Astronautical Federation (IAF)

Speakers:
- Josef Aschbacher, ESA Director General
- Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator
- Sreedhara Somanath, ISRO Chairman
- Hiroshi Yamakawa, JAXA President
- Lisa Campbell, CSA President
- Guoping Li, CNSA Chief Engineer

Zero Debris Charter Signature Ceremony

Leading space actors from Europe and beyond will commit to ensuring a zero debris future

Participants include:

- ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher
- Salvador Landeros Ayala, Director General, Mexican Space Agency
- Iain Cossar, Head, New Zealand Space Agency
- 22 representatives from industry, organisations and new signatory entities
- ESA astronauts

Moderator: ESA Protect Accelerator Coordinator Quentin Verspieren

Space Tech Report

The session will provide insights into the latest trends in the space economy and will unveil new features of the Dealroom Space Tech Guide, an essential resource for navigating the evolving space industry. Participants will receive an in-depth analysis of current trends and key drivers shaping the sector.

Speakers include:

- Gianluigi Baldesi, ESA Head of Ventures and Financing
- Luke Lantsoght Bartoli, Data Analyst, Dealroom.co

ECSECO/ECSL Panel Discussion on Responsible Space for Sustainability

The European Centre for Space Law (ECSL) and the European Centre for Space Economy and Commerce (ECSECO) will conduct a panel discussion with experts from industry and academia focused on legal challenges and commercial constraints of the New Space market, envisioning a future for space sustainability in the fast-changing space sector.

Introduction: Gisela Suess, ESA Head of Legal Services & Charlotte Mathieu, ESA Head of Industrial Policy & Space Economy

Participants:
- Dr. Catherine Doldirina, D-Orbit General Counsel
- Mathieu Udriot, EPFL Co-Lead of the Sustainability Hub
- Marianna Valente, Ph.D. candidate, Politecnico di Torino
- Dr. Martha Mejia-Kaiser, Director International Institute of Space Law

Summary: Marco Ferrazzani, ESA Director of Internal Services & Alexander Soucek, ESA Head of International Law

Participants include:

ESA Director of Earth Observation Simonetta Cheli and ESA Director of Connectivity and Secure Communications Laurent Jaffart

Participants include:

ESA Director of Earth Observation Simonetta Cheli and OHB System AG Member of the Board Rüdiger Schönfeld

Participants include:

- ESA Director of Human and Robotic Exploration Daniel Neuenschwander
- ESA Director of Navigation Javier Benedicto Ruiz
- ESA Director of Connectivity and Secure Communications Laurent Jaffart
- Representatives from industry

Shaping the Future of Satellite Navigation for Mobility

This panel will dive into the future of PNT and satellite navigation for the ever-growing field of mobility applications for modern society.

Speakers:

- ESA Director of Navigation Javier Benedicto
- EUSPA Head of the Office of the Executive Director Christina Giannopapa
- GMV Director of Navigation Procurement Nester Zarraoa
- Thales Product Line Manager GNSS & Lunar Navigation Mauro Marinelli

Moderator: ESA LEO-PNT System Manager Pietro Giordano

Proba-3: Demonstrating Innovative Technology to Deliver Exceptional Science

Highlights of the soon-to-be-launched Proba-3 mission, which will deliver 'eclipses on demand' and deliver imagery not available today to the heliophysics community. 

Speakers:

- Agnes Mestreau, Head of System Engineering Division at ESA
- Andrei Zhukov (Royal Observatory of Belgium), Principal Investigator for Proba-3 coronograph

Moderator: Daniel Scuka

ESA Science Programme & Euclid Highlights

The Science Program is acknowledged as the 'backbone' of ESA, producing excellent science, frontier technology, a secure and long-term return on investment for Member State industries, a well-educated, inspired STEM talent pipeline, and huge public outreach impact. PLUS: A review of the Euclid mission’s milestones and some of the first scientific results.

Speakers:

- Sandra Benitz Herrera
- ESA Project Scientist Valeria Pettorino
- Astrophysicist Conor O'Riordan

Participants include:

ESA Director of Earth Observation Simonetta Cheli and WIA-Europe President Luisella Giulicchi

Late Breaking News: Unveiling of a new cosmic vision from ESA's Euclid mission

A first glimpse of this unpublished image will show Euclid’s capabilities to its fullest and will be a teaser of the type of science that is coming up next year with the first Euclid data release from the nominal survey.

Location: Auditorium, Level 3, South Wing, 

A completely new view of the Universe taken by ESA's Euclid mission during its first year will be unveiled in this session. 

Hydron - Panel and signature ceremony

HydRON is a high-throughput optical space network and forms part of ESA's ScyLight programme for secure and laser communication technology. 

Participants include:

- Laurent Jaffart, ESA Director of Connectivity and Secure Communications
- Harald Hauschildt, Head of the Optical & Quantum Programme
- Tuan Huynh, CSA Director General
- Mina Mitry, CEO and Co-Founder of Kepler
- Alexander Gerst, ESA astronaut

ESA BIC Italy

An overview of ESA Business Incubation Centre Network and opportunities for startups, with specific focus on ESA BICs in Italy. Success stories will be also presented.

Participants include:

- Italian space agency (ASI) Matteo Coletta, Head of Study Centre and New Space Economy
- ESA BIC Lazio Head Michela Michilli
- ESA BIC Turin Program Manager Leo Italiano
- ESA BIC Milan Tomasso Marchi
- ESA BIC Padua representative Andrea Alberti
- ESA BIC Brindisi Program Manager Mario Erario

Moderator: Ritesh Jain, HE Space

EarthCARE First-Light 'Synergy Products'

Presentation of EarthCARE images featuring products from all instruments aboard the satellite.

Speakers include:

- Simonetta Cheli, ESA Director of Earth Observation Programmes
- Hironori Maejima, JAXA Senior Chief Officer for Earth Observation Missions
- Bjoern Frommcknecht, ESA EarthCARE Mission Manager

ECSECO IAC - Paper Award

Announcement and presentation of the ECSECO Paper Award winner.

Participants include:

PhD Student at Politecnico di Bari (Italy) Marianna Valente

Moderator: Professor of Innovation and Project Management at Politecnico di Bari (Italy) Vito Albino

Strengthening Relations with ESA Member States: Human & Robotic Exploration​
 

Panellists will be focussing on key topics and missions such the road to CM25, Explore 2040, LEO cargo return service and Argonaut.

Speakers include:

- ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher
- ESA Head of Communications Anne-Sophie Bradelle
- ESA Director of Human and Robotic Exploration Daniel Neuenschwander
- ESA HRE Senior Strategy Officer Stefaan De Mey
- ESA astronauts Samantha Cristoforetti, Luca Parmitano and Alexander Gerst

Moderator: ESA HRE Communication Programme Officer Jules Grandsire.

IRIDE – Panel and Signature Ceremony

The IRIDE project includes the development and launch of satellites with different imaging technologies, such as Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) sensors, optical sensors with high and medium resolution or sensors with various frequency ranges, from panchromatic, multispectral, hyperspectral to infrared bands.

Speakers include:

- ESA IRIDE Project Manager Gabriella Costa
- ASI Head of Earth Observation Office Francesco Longo
- Italian delegate to the Copernicus User Forum and the Copernicus Committee of the European Commission Andrea Taramelli
- Argotec CEO David Avino
- TASI CEO Giampiero Di Paolo

Moderators: ESA Director of Earth Observation Simonetta Cheli and Italian Space Agency (ASI) President Teodoro Valente

Copernicus for Responsible Space and Sustainability

This session will bring together leading experts to explore the achievements, impact and future potential of Europe's revolutionary Copernicus programme.

Speakers:

- Simonetta Cheli, ESA Director of Earth Observation
- Mauro Facchini, European Commission - DEFIS, Head of Earth Observation Unit
- Florence Rabier, ECMWF Director General
- Alessandra Zampieri, European Commission - JRC Director of Sustainable Resources
- Andrea Taramelli, Italian Copernicus User Forum Coordinator
- Emmanuel Pajot, EARSC Secretary General

Space Finance Lab Debrief

A short recap and insights into the Space Finance Lab. The focus will be on raising awareness of increased investment opportunities in space SMEs through commercial banks and highlighting initiatives by ESA, the European Commission (EC), EIB, EIC, and EUSPA. Key trends, challenges in space finance, and success stories will also be covered.

Speakers include:

ESA Head of Ventures and Financing Office Gianluigi Baldesi joined by Innovation Finance Advisor at European Investment Bank Jaroslav Toth

ESA Rising Stars Award

Prize award ceremony for 'ESA Rising Stars', dedicated to promising European space companies.

Participants include:

- ESA Director for Commercialisation, Industry and Competitiveness Géraldine Naja
- CEOs of awardee companies

ECSECO/ESPI Panel on Private Investment in Space around the World

This panel will provide a discussion with global perspectives on private investments into the space sector.

Speakers include:

- Temidayo Oniosun (Space in Africa)
- Masayasu Ishida (SPACETIDE)
- Simon Potter (Bryce Tech)
- Blaine Curcio (Orbital Gateway Consulting)
- João Falcão Serra (ESPI)

ISECG Global Exploration Roadmap 2024 Presentation

ESA is currently chairing ISECG, the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (27 Agencies). In August, ISECG released the fourth edition of the Global Exploration Roadmap. Join us to celebrate the presentation of the 2024 Roadmap edition.

Participants include:

- ESA Director of Human and Robotic Exploration Daniel Neuenschwander
- NASA Associate Administrator Catherine Koerner
- JAXA Astronaut Akihiko Hoshide
- Australian Space Agency Head Enrico Palermo
- CSIRO Director Kimal Hiralall
- PTS Executive Director Hugo André Costa
- UKSA Head of Space Exploration Libby Jackson
- CSA Vice-President Stéphanie Durand
- CNES Deputy Associate Director Pierre Bousquet
- LSA Senior Advisor Bob Lamboray
- POLSA Chief Specialist Marta Balcer

Moderator: ESA HRE Senior Strategy Officer Stefaan De Mey

ESA Director General Meets ESA ISEB students

Join us for a lively, informal discussion as the ESA DG meets with the 24 students from the International Space Education Board (ISEB), selected by ESA for sponsorship to attend IAC 2024.

Participants include:

- ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher
- ESA Head of Education Hugo Marée
- ESA ISEB students

Signature of Joint Statement for a Responsible Space Sector

The purpose of the 'Joint Statement for a Responsible Space Sector' is to increase the involvement of public and industrial stakeholders for a more inclusive approach towards a sustainable space sector.

Participants include:

- ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher
- ESA Chief Climate and Sustainability Officer Andrea Vena
- eSpace - EPFL Space Center Technical Project Manager Mathieu Udriot
- EPFL Space Centre Executive Director Emmanuelle David
- Cosmos for Humanity President Claire Elss
- IEEC Head of Services and Industrial Daniel Sors
- IEEC Internationalization Manager for the Space Sector Albert Nicolás López

Ramses Phase 1 Development Signature

Rapid Apophis Mission for SpacE Safety (RAMSES) is foreseen as Europe's contribution to the international effort to study asteroid Apophis, which will make a very close approach to Earth in 2029.

Participants include:

- ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher
- Roberto Aceti, OHB Italia
- Paolo Martino, ESA Ramses project manager
- ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti
- Sr Italian space agency (ASI) representative TBC

ESA Careers talk + Q&A

ESA Space Sustainability – the IAC Wrap-Up

Showcase and discussion on ESA's space sustainability approach and initiatives, with a focus on what has been discussed at IAC. 

Participants include representatives from ESA's Climate & Sustainability Office, Clean Space team, the launchers directorate and the PROTECT/Zero Debris iniative.

Moderators:

- Andrea Vena, ESA Chief Climate and Sustainability Officer
- Marie Le Pellec, ESA Space Sustainability Engineer

Ex Oblivione: From Space Junk to Art

Ex Oblivione is a startup born from ESA's intrapreneurship initiative, dedicated to repurposing unused space assets into unique works of art.

Participants include:

- Guillaume Prigent, founder of Ex Oblivione and ESA Business Developer & Partnership Officer joined by experts in the sustainability field from ESA and other companies.

ESA Careers talk + Q&A

Open to all!

Expert Q&A: European Launchers & Space Transportation 

ESA space transportation expert Piero Domenico Resta.

Space Quiz

Open to all!

Introduction to the European Space Agency

Open to all!

Meet the Astronaut - Luca Parmitano

Autograph session with ESA's 'Astro Luca'.

Luca Parmitano was born in Paternò, Italy on 27 September 1976, though he considers Catania his hometown. He completed his first six-month Volare mission to the International Space Station in 2013 and returned to space for his Beyond mission in 2019, serving as the third European and first Italian commander of the International Space Station during Expedition 61.