Three new Directors join the European Space Agency’s Executive Board
As of today, ESA has appointed three new Directors - for Commercialisation, Industry and Procurement, Earth Observation Programmes and Navigation. The new Directors were appointed by ESA Council at its meeting on 21 October; they will support the Director General with responsibility for activities and overall objectives in their respective directorates.
Director of Commercialisation, Industry and Procurement
Ms Géraldine Naja has been appointed to the new position of Director of Commercialisation, Industry and Procurement (D/CIP), based at ESA Headquarters in Paris. The directorate 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.
She will be responsible for elaborating and implementing ESA’s industrial policy, the Agency’s procurement rules and policies, and conducting negotiations and managing procurement for all activities and programmes. Géraldine will take up duty on 1 November 2021.
Detailed biography here.
Director of Earth Observation Programmes
Ms Simonetta Cheli has been appointed as Director of Earth Observation Programmes and as Head of ESRIN, ESA’s centre for Earth observation in Frascati, Italy. Her responsibilities cover the implementation of all ESA activities in Earth observation and the preparation of new proposals in this area. Simonetta will take up duty on 1 January 2022.
Detailed biography here.
Director of Navigation
Mr Francisco-Javier Benedicto Ruiz has been appointed as Director of Navigation, responsible for the definition, planning and execution of the Agency’s Navigation programmes, in line with the European Strategy for Space. He will be based at ESA’s European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, (the Netherlands). Javier will take up duty on 16 February 2022 succeeding Mr Paul Verhoef.
Detailed biography here.
We wish to thank Paul Verhoef for his tremendous work and the contribution he has made to the evolution of Navigation at ESA over the past five years.