2023 CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

Luigi is a Partner in PwC Advisory France. Within PwC he leads the Space Practice worldwide, and core space strategy consulting team based in Paris and Toulouse, focused on serving institutional and commercial stakeholders in the space sector, as well as non-space companies with specific commercial interest in space products and applications. He has 22 years of experience in the space sector and he has extensively supported the Space Industry, the investment community, Space Agencies, intergovernmental organizations, and governments in Europe and Worldwide. He is a regular keynote and panel speaker at space-related events worldwide.  

Ralf Zimmermann is the assigned head of moon programs and project manager of the Orion European Service (ESM) module at Airbus. The ESM represents half of the spacecraft used by NASA and international partners to return humans to the moon within the Artemis program. Prior to this, Ralf Zimmermann was chief programs officer and managing director of TESAT Spacecom, delivering electronic equipment for satellites (telecom, earth observation and science and constellations). Before joining TESAT he headed a multinational department for Active Radar and Microwave instruments in Airbus Space Systems in the earth observation perimeter. Earlier career stations encompass: Head of German national and Export Satellites, Program Manager for the Automated Transfer Vehicle serving the International Space Station (ISS) and different positions within the Columbus program development for the European Module of the ISS.

After finishing his graduate studies in the field of aerospace engineering and technology, Walter Cugno joined the company in 1975 as a member of the Spacelab programme, the first European manned space system. He then held positions as Assembly, Test and Integration manager of the Hipparcos satellite, and in project management roles on BeppoSax and on the International Space Station (ISS) programme, developing, amongst other things, the Node2 Harmony, Node 3 Tranquility and Cupola elements, as well as the PMM (Permanent Multipurpose Module) Programme and the Cygnus Pressurized Cargo Module. After time spent as the Director of the ExoMars Programme, he was then appointed  as VP, Exploration and Science and head of Thales Alenia Space’s activities in Turin. Walter Cugno is a world-renowned expert in the field of human and robotic space exploration, as well as in the prospective studies of the exploitation of space resources in the “new space” economy.

Raphael Roettgen is the founder of E2MC Ventures, a space-focused early-stage venture capital firm. He is also the co-founder of Prometheus Life Technologies, a space biotech startup that was the first startup to win the Orbital Reef innovation challenge.

He lectures on space entrepreneurship and finance at several universities including the International Space University (ISU) and the Swiss Institute of Technology at Lausanne (EPFL), hosts the popular Space Business Podcast, and is the author of “To Infinity”, an introductory book on the space economy.

Previously, Mr. Roettgen held senior roles at global investment banks and hedge funds and was also a fintech entrepreneur in Brazil.

He holds degrees in finance from Wharton, machine learning from PUC-Rio and space studies from the International Space University, where he also serves as a governing member.

Since 2010, Sam has been a partner at Fleur De Lis Partners in Tampa, Florida, accumulating more than a decade of private transaction experience. In 2019, he led application development at an AI startup. After departing in 2020, he deepened his AI research, earned a certificate in CS from NYU, and in 2022, co-authored an ML algorithm for equities analysis. That same year, he invested in Spaced Ventures. He joined their team in March 2023 as Senior Partner and has since helped close 4 transactions representing 14.5mn $USD in AUM. Sam holds a bachelor’s in philosophy and a minor in music from George Washington University.

In his capacity as Assistant Director General – Space Operations and Exploration Sector in
the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), Adnan and his team are responsible
for all downstream activities of MBRSC space missions. This includes the Ground
Networks Operations and Maintenance, Missions Operations, Data Processing,
Applications and Value-added Products Development, Interfacing with the end users;
locally and internationally, as well as commercializing MBRSC products and services.
In addition, Adnan is managing the UAE Astronaut Program at MBRSC, managing missions,
and preparing astronauts corps to support current and future Human Spaceflight
missions. Moreover, he is overseeing the Space Science and Space Robotics Lab at MBRSC.
Adnan has published and presented a number of papers in the areas of remote sensing
and satellite image applications. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering
from Khalifa University, Sharjah, UAE

Timothy Cichan (Chee-haan) is the Space Exploration Architect at Lockheed Martin, where he leads a multi-disciplinary team of engineers who figure out how to help astronauts and robots visit the Moon, asteroids, and Mars. He previously was the Orion System Architect. Timothy joined Lockheed Martin in 2002, and has worked for both human spaceflight and commercial communication satellite teams, in optimal trajectory design, mission analysis, subsystem development, and systems engineering. He has a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from Penn State.

Dana Baki is the Chief Commercial Officer of The Exploration Company, one of the fastest growing space companies globally, building reusable space capsules and lunar landers. This Nyx capsule will be the first to use green propellant globally, while flying at a fraction of the cost of global competition.

Prior to joining The Exploration Company, Dana was the co-founder & COO of MUNCH:ON, a food technology platform based out of the Middle East, that was acquired by Careem (Uber’s subsidiary in the region). Before starting MUNCH:ON, Dana was a Partner of Business Development at AlJal Capital—a financing and venture capital firm in the United Arab Emirates. Previous to that, Ms. Baki worked for Procter & Gamble in the United States for 7+ years, benefiting from a wide range of assignments within the company and gaining expertise in Corporate Strategy, Marketing and Consumer Insights.

She holds an MBA from Georgetown University and B.A. in Economics and English Literature from The University of Michigan.

Theodora Ogden is an Analyst in the Defence and Security team at RAND Europe, where she focuses on emerging technologies, strategy and space as an operational domain. Her work has helped inform UK MOD and the UK Space Agency, including towards development of the British National Space Strategy and security strategy. She currently manages a large-scale evaluation of the UKSA’s Earth Observation programme. In 2022 Theodora spent six months on secondment at Arizona State University as the inaugural Interplanetary Initiative Fellow, leading research on equitable access to space and emerging spacefaring countries. She regularly publishes and speaks on the future of space and key geopolitical, legal and economic challenges. Theodora also provides advice and research input for various international working groups and policy initiatives. With an academic background in security and international law, Theodora previously worked at NATO HQ SACT and the Fundamental Rights Agency of the EU, as well as at several think tanks and non-profit organisations.

Josh co-founded Space Forge in 2018. From kick-starting their mission to change the face of the space industry – making space work for humanity – Josh, and co-founder Andrew Bacon, have taken the industry leading startup from a garage in Bristol to raising the largest ever seed round in Europe by a Space Tech company. 

Space Forge is developing the world’s first fully reusable platform, to unlock the benefits of space for manufacturing and experimentation at scale. By producing next generation materials off planet and returning to Earth, a stepchange in humanity’s progress is possible – with the power to progress a clean industrial revolution.

Prior to co-founding Space Forge, Josh gained a vast knowledge of the UK Space Industry: working for Thales Alenia Space across marketing and sales, as well as was being seconded to the UK Space Agency, where he worked on everything from Critical National Infrastructure to technology harmonisation with European Space Agency member states.

Manny is the Managing Director for UK & Europe at Orbit Fab, supporting the development of an in-space propellant and materials supply chain. Manny is focused on technology development, commercialisation, and international growth for this leading space start-up. Manny previously helped develop BryceTech’s international consulting presence into a revenue generating and profitable business, managed the analysis of a multi-billion-dollar portfolio of assets at Inmarsat, and executed on cross-functional initiatives at top-tier investment banks. Manny holds a master’s degree in space studies from the International Space University and a bachelor’s in computer science from the University of Kent.

Manny sits on multiple advisory boards and committees, including UKSA’s Space Technology Advisory Committee, the UK’s Spaceflight Safety and Regulatory Council, and the International Astronautical Federation’s Industry Relations Committee. He is a recipient of the 2023 IAF Young Space Leader, the 2019 and 2020 SSPI 20 under 35 award, SGAC’s Space Generation Leadership award, and the William S. Ball Award for Entrepreneurship.

Didier Schmitt is head of the strategy and coordination group for human and robotic exploration at the European Space Agency. From 2009 to 2018 he was stationed in Brussels, successively in the European Commission Space Policy Unit, as adviser to the President of the EC on technology foresight, and at the EU diplomatic service dealing with space and security. Previously he was head of life sciences for human spaceflight at ESA-ESTEC. As an academic he was Associate Professor at the Toulouse medical school and at the International Space University in Strasbourg. His educational background is PhD in biosciences as well as a certified medical doctor.