Message of Chairman

Wallonie Espace is proud to organize the fourth edition of their SPACE DAYS, to be held in Liège, Belgium, on September 26^th - 27^th 2012. The Wallonie Espace SPACE DAYS are meant as a biennial meeting place for all actors involved in the Space business : agencies, industry, universities, and governmental institutions. The 2012 theme is dedicated to Earth Observation, with emphasis on instrumentation, data processing and applications.

The next coming Space programme orientations in Europe (2012 ESA Ministerial Council, GMES…), new challenges related to climate changes, monitoring and management of natural disasters and Earth resources along with budget constraints require adequate technology solutions to be provided by the Space industry in collaboration with researchers and scientists.

In order to offer a quick and accurate overview of the latest trends in this strategic field of the space market, SPACE DAYS 2012 offers you the opportunity to attend debates bringing together key players and renown experts active in present and future Earth observation programmes. In addition, several workshops will provide up-to-date information about remarkable technologies in line with the 2012 theme. B2B meetings will be held and participants will have the possibility to visit local Space companies.

We are looking forward to seeing you at the Space Days 2012 event !

Thierry du Pré-Werson
Chairman of Wallonie Espace

Keynote speakers

Jean-Jacques Dordain
Director General - ESA

Jean-Jacques Dordain, born in 1946, completed his engineering studies at the Ecole Centrale in 1969 (the year Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon), before joining ONERA, the French National Office for Aerospace Studies and Research between 1970-1986. First serving as a researcher in propulsion and launchers from 1970 to 1976, he went on to be Coordinator of Space Activities and then Director of Fundamental Physics.
Joining ESA in 1986 as Head of the Microgravity and Space Station Utilisation Department, Jean-Jacques Dordain became Associate Director for Strategy, Planning and International Policy in 1993, Director of Strategy and Technical Assessment in 1999, and in 2001 Director of Launchers. He was appointed Director General in December 2002, with a mandate from July 2003, subsequently renewed twice through 2015.

Keynote speakers

Stéphane Israël
VP - GMES and European Institutional Business
Astrium Services, GEO Information Services - ASTRIUM

Born January 1971 in Paris, Stéphane Israël joined EADS in 2007 as a Vice-President. He is now responsible for GMES & European Institutions business in the GEO-Information Services Business Division of Astrium Services (Astrium - EADS). Previously, Stéphane has been an advisor to EADS CEO (Louis Gallois) and Head of the Finance and Programme controlling of the Defence business Division of Astrium Space Transportation.
Graduate from Ecole normale supérieure and Ecole nationale d'administration, Stéphane Israël belongs to the prestigious French Cour des Comptes, where he passed six years as a senior consultant. He has also been an advisor to the French Minister for Finance, Economy and Industry.

Keynote speakers

Reynald Seznec
President & CEO - THALES ALENIA SPACE

Reynald Seznec was appointed President and CEO of Thales Alenia Space in May 2008. Reynald Seznec is a graduate of École Polytechnique and École des Ponts et Chaussées. He also holds a PhD in Physics from Paris University (VI). He began his career in the field of physics research, later moving on to hold several different positions within industry. In 1990, Reynald joined Thomson-CSF's Sonar and Anti-Submarine division, of which he went on to hold the role of General Manager (1996-1999). He then joined the Air Defence business group, becoming its Senior EVP (2000). In 2003, he was appointed SVP, Air Traffic Management and then interim SVP, Security (until 2006). He held the SVP Operations position since 2004.

Keynote speakers

Josef Aschbacher
Head of ESA GMES Space Office
Earth Observation Directorate - ESA

Josef Aschbacher is the Head of the GMES Space Office of the European Space Agency, which is located at ESA ESRIN in Frascati, Italy. Before, from 2001-2006 he was Programme Coordinator in the Directorate of Earth Observation Programmes at ESA’s HQ in Paris. He was at the Space Applications Institute at the EC Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy, from 1993-2000, where he was the Scientific Assistant to the Director in his last position. Through his work at the EC and ESA he earned a profound knowledge of the Earth Observation landscape in Europe and has actively contributed to the advancement of European space programmes, most notably the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) initiative. Josef Aschbacher has a PhD and Masters degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Innsbruck, Austria. He has 25 years of working experience in the domain of satellite Earth observation and has published more than 100 articles, many in peer-reviewed journals. He has been a lecturer at University Innsbruck, Austria, the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok, Thailand, the Politecnico Milano, Italy, and the University of Wuerzburg, Germany.

Keynote speakers

Stephen Briggs
Head, Earth Observation Programme Planning and Coordination Service - ESA HQ

Stephen is currently Head of Earth Observation Programme Planning and Coordination Service, based at ESA’s headquarters in Paris. In this role he is responsible for the overall coordination of EO programmes and their internal and external interfaces. He is currently heavily involved in the preparation of the ESA Ministerial Council of November 2012. Previous to this post he was for many years Head of the Department of Earth Observation Science, Applications & Future Technologies of ESA at ESRIN (Frascati), where he was responsible for the exploitation of ESA EO missions (for science, public sector, including GMES, and commercial applications), future EO technologies programme, studies relating to future missions, interface between ESA’s EO missions with user communities (including consultation, managing requirements and providing scientific advice to the Agency), and ensuring scientific support and providing application expertise in the development and exploitation phase of all missions and programmes. He remains also ad personam adviser to DG on strategy, science and policy.
Before joining ESA in 2000, Stephen worked as Director, Earth Observation British National Space Centre & Head, Earth Observation NERC, UK (1994-1999); Head, Remote Sensing Applications Development Unit, NERC/BNSC (1986-1994); Senior Scientist, NERC Thematic Information Systems (1983-1986); and Lecturer, Dept of Physics, Queen Mary College London (1982-1983).
Stephen has a B.Sc (First Class Honours) in Astronomy, and a Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the University College London. He is an Elected Fellow of University College London (2006). He has 70+ papers in journals, proceedings and books. Other posts held include, Chairman of the Centre for Terrestrial Carbon Dynamics (Sheffield, UK) (2001-2007), Chairman of the ESA Earth Observation Programme Board (1996-1999), Principal Investigator of ERS, ATSR, AVIRIS, ADEOS, EARSEC, EMAC et al. Programmes, Visiting Lecturer at JRC, Cambridge, Svalbard, Sheffield, Leicester, UCL and other Universities, and External Examiner Universities of London and Durham.

Keynote speakers

Jean-Paul Malingreau
Adviser for Scientific Foresight and Policy Anticipation to the Director General of the Joint Research Centre European Commission - Brussels

Jean-Paul Malingreau holds a degree in tropical agronomy (Cath. Univ. Louvain, 1970) and a Ph.D in Plant Ecology (Univ. Calif. Davis, 1980). His research career was devoted to the development of satellite-based monitoring methods for tracking changes in the vegetation cover of the world. He worked for an extensive period of time in Indonesia and South East Asia (FAO, Ford foundation and Agricultural Development Council). In the early eighties he joined the NASA Earth Sciences Lab where he pursued research on the global monitoring of the terrestrial biosphere. He then joined the European Commission in its Ispra facilities where he developed a range of global applications for earth observation in forestry, agriculture and land use. At the JRC Brussels headquarters he managed for many years the EC scientific work programme for the JRC. He is currently advising the DG of the JRC on scientific foresight and policy anticipation.

Space Days

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