Speakers

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.

Massimo Claudio Comparini, former CEO at eGeos since 2016 and Director Line of Business Geo Information at Telespazio, has a long and proven track record in space industry, from technology to services, and in the earth observation domain. Massimo holds a Master Degree in Electrical Engineering, Remote Sensing and Radar Systems, University of Rome La Sapienza (Italy), and a Degree in Strategy from Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, CA (USA). He started his career in 1983 at Selenia Spazio (later Alenia Spazio), holding various management positions, up to the role of Chief Technology Officer. In 2013 he was appointed CTO of Telespazio, a joint-venture between Leonardo (67%) and Thales (33%). In 2016 he became the CEO of eGeos, an ASI (20%) and Telespazio (80%) company, an established international leader in the Earth Observation and Geo-Spatial Information, and, in his role, Chairman of GAF and EarthLab Luxembourg.