Francisco-Javier Benedicto Ruiz
Director of Navigation, ESA
Born in Spain, Francisco-Javier Benedicto Ruiz studied at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, graduating with a Master of Science in Telecommunications Engineering in 1981.
He has accomplished an international career in space, with over 40 years’ experience at ESA, universities and Spanish industry and Japan’s international telecom operator KDD.
He has held various engineering and managerial posts in the development of fixed, broadcast and mobile satellite communication systems and led the development of Europe’s EGNOS and Galileo satellite navigation systems.
Mr Benedicto Ruiz started his career as radio frequency engineer working for Mier Comunicaciones and for the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in the early 1980s.
He joined ESA as satellite communications engineer in the Technical Directorate at ESTEC, the Netherlands, in 1985, and worked in Japan as a satellite communications engineer for international satcom operator KDD.
He then became Head of Mobile Satellite Services in ESA’s Directorate of Telecommunications at ESTEC in 1993 and later initiated the EGNOS project, which he managed in close collaboration with French space agency CNES.
Since 2000, he has been leading at ESA the design, development, deployment and initial operations of Europe’s Galileo global satellite navigation system. This included the end-to-end system design, deployment of two experimental satellites (GIOVE A/B) and up to 30 operational satellites in medium Earth orbit, and deployment of ground segment with over 20 operational sites, control and security monitoring centres in Europe and ground stations distributed all over the world.
Mr Benedicto Ruiz has over 30 years of experience of collaboration with the European Commission, Inmarsat and Eutelsat, the EU GNSS Agency and later the EU Agency for the Space Programme.
He speaks Spanish, English, French, Italian, Dutch, Catalan and Japanese. He has over 100 publications in technical journals and conferences, holds several international ESA patents and has been recipient of several honours and awards.
In 2018 he was awarded the degree Senatore Accademico by the Accademia Internazionale Medicea (Firenze, Italy) and in 2022 the degree Doctor Honoris Causa by the Polytechnic University of Valencia (Spain).
He served as acting Director of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications (D/TIA) from January 2023 to May 2024 (renamed Directorate of Connectivity and Secure Communications (D/CSC) as of 1 June 2023).
Deeph Chana
Imperial Business School, Imperial College London
Deeph Chana is a researcher, technologist, and innovation strategist specialising in dual-use technologies at the intersection of space, security, and advanced engineering systems. With over two decades of leadership across academia, government, industry, and international security institutions, his work focuses on how frontier technologies transition from research to operational capability at pace—particularly in domains critical to resilience and positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT).
He is the founding architect of NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) and the NATO Innovation Fund (NIF) and served as DIANA’s inaugural Managing Director. In this role, he built the world’s first multi-sovereign deep-tech accelerator ecosystem, explicitly designed to advance dual-use and space-based technologies and strengthen innovation pipelines across 32 nations representing 1Bn citizens.
Professor Chana is currently based at Imperial College Business School, where he works on applied machine learning, innovation systems, and deep-tech commercialisation. He is also an Advisor to Hiro Capital, supporting investment strategy across frontier technologies including AI, space-adjacent systems, and next-generation infrastructure.
Aarti Holla-Maini
Director, United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs
Aarti Holla-Maini is the Director of the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), having taken up post on 18th September 2023 following her appointment by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.
Ms. Holla-Maini brings over 25 years of experience in the space and satellite sector, working predominantly with international organizations and regulators. Prior to the United Nations, she held the post of Secretary-General of the Global Satellite Operators Association.
Ms. Holla-Maini is a recognized leader with a strong track record in forging public-private and cross-sector partnerships; high-level advocacy at the international level; strategic communication and managing diverse stakeholders. Under her leadership, Ms. Holla-Maini expanded the association from being a regional organization to a global one representing commercial satellite operators around the world.
She was one of the chief architects of the Crisis Connectivity Charter established in 2015 for emergency telecommunications via satellite with the UN World Food Programme’s Emergency Telecommunications Cluster and has, on multiple occasions, secured recogn ition and policy support for space technologies to play their rightful role in connecting the unconnected, in Europe, Africa and beyond.
The appointment of Ms. Holla-Maini comes at a time when activities in space are being increasingly driven by the private sector. Her deep experience in high-level advocacy with international organizations and regulators, along with her understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing the space sector, will serve Member States well as they seek to access and leverage the benefits of space to accelerate sustainable development.
Ms. Holla-Maini’s experience has included service as a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on Space; member of the Advisory Group of the Space Sustainability Rating managed by eSpace at EPFL Space Center; member of the Advisory Board of the Satellite Industry Association of India; Senior Space Policy Advisor to Forum Europe and an Expert Advisor on Space Traffic Management for European Union studies 2021-2023. Since October 2024 Ms. Holla-Maini is a member of the International Academy of Astronautics. Ms. Holla-Maini holds a bachelor’s degree in law with German law from Kings College London and a master’s degree in business administration from HEC in France. She is fluent in French, German and Punjabi alongside her native English and has moderate knowledge of Dutch.
Sharafat Gadimova
Executive Secretariat of the International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (ICG), United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)
Sharafat Gadimova has been with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs since 2004. Ms. Gadimova leads the United Nations Programme on Space Applications’ activities on global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) and space weather. She coordinates the work of the International Committee on global navigation satellite systems (ICG) and its Providers’ Forum. She is a chair of the ICG Working Group on Capacity Building and Information Dissemination, and she spearheaded the development of education curriculum in GNSS for the United Nations-affiliated Regional Centres for Space Science and Technology Education. Ms. Gadimova graduated from the Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University in Baku and holds a Master of Engineering in Electrical Engineering and a Master of Science in Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System.
Heidi Kuusniemi
Professor, Wireless Systems Tampere University, Finland
Heidi Kuusniemi is a Professor of Wireless Systems at Tampere University, Finland, holding a joint professorship with the Finnish Geospatial Research Institute of the National Land Survey of Finland. Her research focuses on resilient positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) systems, including satellite navigation interference detection and mitigation as well as reliable multi-system and multi-sensor navigation. Her work bridges the domains of geospatial technology, wireless systems and cybersecurity, with the goal of ensuring trustworthy positioning and situational awareness from space to Earth. Prof. Kuusniemi has led numerous national and international research and development projects on localization resilience, sensor fusion and the space economy. She is President of the Nordic Institute of Navigation and a member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters as well as the Finnish Academy of Technical Sciences, and was named Professor of the Year 2025 by the Professors’ Union of Finland.
Henriette Spyra
Director General, Austrian Federal Ministry for Innovation, Mobility and Infrastructure
Henriette Spyra has been serving as Director General at the Austrian Federal Ministry for Innovation, Mobility and Infrastructure since 2021 following a two-year-term as Director Science & Innovation at the Austrian Environment Agency. As an innovation and mobility expert she looks back at a 15 year career in various public sector positions as well as research institutions. She is member of the supervisory board at AIT Austrian Institute of Technology as well as SAL Silicon Austria Labs. She also serves as co-president of the Climate & Energy Fund. A stubborn optimist Ms. Spyra enjoys bridging the worlds of policy, technology, sustainability and innovation. Originally from East Berlin, Ms. Spyra believes in falling walls. She holds degrees from the University of Oxford as well as the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.