N° 34–2025: ESA Media Invitation – Programme for the 2025 Paris Air Show at Le Bourget

Updated 13 June

The International Paris Air Show: 

Organised every two years by the French Aerospace Industries Association, the Paris Air Show is the world's largest event dedicated to the aeronautics and space industry. It is an exceptional showcase and the unmissable event for the international aeronautics and space community, bringing together over 2,500 exhibitors from 48 countries. 

The European Space Agency: 

The European Space Agency (ESA) provides Europe’s gateway to space.   

ESA is an intergovernmental organisation, created in 1975, with the mission to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space delivers benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.   

ESA has 23 Member States (Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom), three Associate Members (Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia), four Cooperating States (Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus and Malta) and a Cooperation Agreement with Canada. 

ESA presence at the International Paris Air Show 2025: 

Just next to the towering Ariane launchers at Le Bourget, you will find the new Paris Space Hub created by GIFAS (Groupement des Industries Françaises Aéronautiques et Spatiales) to highlight the role of space during the 55th International Paris Air Show. Exhibitors in the Paris Space Hub include ESA, CNES, and commercial companies from the aerospace and defence industries. 

ESA will have a 350 m2 stand under the theme “European Space Agency: Elevating the future of Europe”​. 

This year, ESA celebrates 50 years of advancing space for Europe and our presence at the Paris Air Show highlights ESA's Strategy 2040 and its five goals:  

• Protect our planet and climate​: By giving Europe the possibility to monitor and understand the changes and threats affecting our planet, ESA helps to anticipate and mitigate them to build a safer, more sustainable future for Europe and the world;  

• Explore and discover​: By constantly pushing the boundaries of human knowledge, ESA brings us closer to answering some of the Universe’s most fundamental questions, inspiring an entire continent;  

• Strengthen European autonomy and resilience: By developing advanced communications and best-in-class observation and navigation solutions in Europe, ESA ensures Europe’s future independence in an ever-shifting geopolitical landscape; ​  

• Boost growth and competitiveness: By fostering and activating a vibrant educational, technological and industrial European space ecosystem across its Member States, ESA drives a dynamic of expertise, competitiveness and prosperity for the benefit of all; ​  

• Inspire Europe: By working together, ESA’s 23 Member States express and share the best of themselves for Europe and beyond.  

Media opportunities: 

Media representatives present on site will have access to the ESA stand (B35) and to several news events. All timings are subject to change. Please check our dedicated webpage for the latest updates. 

Day 1 – 16 June 

• 12:00 – 12:30 - ESA 2040 Strategy presentation: “ESA Strategy 2040, a journey elevating the future of European space”, ESA stand
  • Presentation by Heriberto Saldivar, ESA Head of Strategy Department

• 12:30-13:00 - Panel Discussion “Launchpad to the World: Scaling European Space Innovation”​, ESA stand 
  • Moderated by Philip Thomas, ESA Head of the ScaleUp Programme Division 
  • Gregory Pradels, Advisor to the Director of Strategy, CNES 
  • Nicolette Yeo, Director of Innovation, Singapore Space and Technology Ltd 
  • Hidetaka Aoki, Co-Founder&Director, Space Port Japan, Co-Founder, SPACETIDE Foundation 

•  14:00-14:45 - Panel discussion: “Inside the state of the art of Galileo”, ESA stand

Galileo’s programme partners, the European Commission, ESA and the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) gather in a roundtable format to dive into the state of the art of Galileo, Europe’s very own and the world’s most accurate satellite navigation system with over nearly five billion users worldwide. The panellists discuss the strength of European cooperation, Galileo’s services portfolio, an update on Galileo Second Generation and expected innovations to bring Galileo into the future.  

• • Miguel Manteiga Bautista, ESA Head of Galileo Programme Office 
  • Guerric Pont, EUSPA Galileo Exploitation Programme Manager  
  • Antonio Danesi, European Commission Senior Galileo Programme Officer
  • Moderated by Gaia Verhulst, ESA Navigation Communication Officer

• 15:00-16:00​ – Press conference ESA-CNES, Paris Space Hub Agora 
  • Moderated by Anne-Sophie Bradelle, ESA Head of Communications

• 16:15-17:00 – Proba-3 First Image Release, ESA stand 

Proba-3 is the world’s first ever precision formation flying mission. With a suite of positioning technologies on board, the Proba-3 satellite duo can create ‘artificial solar eclipses’ in orbit, casting a precisely-controlled shadow from one spacecraft to the other to open up sustained views of the Sun’s faint surrounding corona. The first Proba-3 images will be unveiled during the event.

• Opening speech by Josef Aschbacher, ESA Director General 
• Dietmar Pilz, ESA Director of Technology, Engineering and Quality 
• Damien Galano, ESA Proba-3 Project Manager 
• Joe Zender, ESA PROBA-3 Project Scientist
• Andrei Zhukov, ESA Senior Research Scientist at Royal Observatory of Belgium 
• Juha-Pekka ("Jussi") Luntama, ESA Head of the Space Weather Office

• 17:15-18:00 – Panel discussion “Shaping the future of Navigation” with Leonardo, ESA stand 

Satellite navigation is the backbone of our European economy, society, and strategy – a critical infrastructure that needs to be developed, protected, and adapted to new trends and upcoming needs. This panel of ESA and Leonardo experts will dive into the future of satellite navigation and ESA’s vision to ensure a strong Europe in the Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) domain together with European partners and industry.

• • Marco Falcone, ESA Head of Future Navigation Department 
  • Stefano Binda, ESA NAVISP Element 1 Manager 
  • Jose Angel Avila, ESA Head of Future Navigation Programmes Office 
  • Roberto Prieto, ESA Head of LEO-PNT project 
  • Alessandro Ambri, Leonardo Electronics VP Key Account Manager Galileo  
  • Francesco Leto, Leonardo Electronics Head of Sales International Market Coordination and Avionics  
  • Moderated by Philippe Erhard, ESA Head Strategy & Institutional Relations  

Day 2 – 17 June 

• 11:00-11:30 - LISA mission milestone - moderated discussion, ESA stand  

LISA will be the first space-based observatory dedicated to studying gravitational waves: ripples in the fabric of space-time emitted during the most powerful events in the Universe, such as pairs of black holes coming together and merging.

• Josef Aschbacher, ESA Director General 
• Chiara Pedersoli, CEO OHB System AG 
• Carole Mundell, ESA Director of Science  
• Moderated by Lisa Lacroix, ESA International Science Officer 

• 12:00 – 13:00 - “RISE: Securing Strategic Space Assets through European Capability and Cooperation”, ESA stand 

ESA’s RISE mission will contribute to the space safety objectives of protecting our planet, humanity, and assets in space and on Earth from hazards originating in space. It marks a promising step towards enhancing in-orbit services and technologies, such as refuelling, in-orbit manufacturing, assembly and even recycling, enabling a circular economy in space. 

Moderator: Holger Krag, ESA Head of Space Safety programme 

Part I – Institutional opening

• Josef Aschbacher, ESA Director General
• Luca Rossettini, CEO and Founder of D-Orbit
• Adolfo Urso, Minister of Economic Development of Italy
• Teodoro Valente, President of the Italian Space Agency  

Part II – Project level perspectives 

• Andrew Wolahan, ESA Rise project manager
• Stefano Antonetti, D-Orbit Rise project manager
• Enrico Cavallini, Head of ASI’s team on Access to Space & In-Orbit Servicing
• Vijay Thakur, Technical Autority at Eutelsat 

• 12h30 - 13h30 - Joint panel and Q&A: “European space transportation cooperation securing our access to space”, Paris Space Hub Agora 
  • Josef Aschbacher, ESA Director General 
  • François Jacq, CNES President 
  • Martin Sion, Arianegroup CEO
  • David Cavaillolès, Arianespace CEO
  • Giulio Ranzo, Avio CEO
  • Moderation: Anne-Sophie Bradelle, ESA Head of Communications Department  

• 15:00 – 15:30 - ESA event “Building Europe’s future space transportation”, Paris Space Hub Agora 
  • Toni Tolker-Nielsen, ESA Director of Space Transportation 
  • Jerome Breteau, ESA Senior Adviser 
  • Thilo Kranz, ESA Commercial Space Transportation Programme Manager  

• 15:30 – 16:25 - Panel discussion: “Reinforced European autonomy and resilience through space transportation at CM25” and Q&A, ESA stand 
  • Toni Tolker-Nielsen, ESA Director of Space Transportation 
  • Louis Laurent, ESA Head of Ariane Programme 
  • Stefano Bianchi, ESA Head of Flight Programmes 
  • Jerome Breteau , ESA Senior Adviser 
  • Thilo Kranz, ESA Commercial Space Transportation Programme Manager 
  • Luce Fabreguettes, ESA head of Infrastructure and Value Chain 
  • More speakers to be confirmed  

• 16h30 – 16h55 FLPP / FIRST! Reusability Award Ceremony, ESA stand 

Inside ESA Space Transportation directorate, Future Launchers Preparatory Programme (FLPP) initiatives aim to bring ESA’s vision of a future sustainable and competitive end-to-end space transportation ecosystem closer to reality.   

FIRST! is an initiative of FLPP. Its goals are to identify innovative and promising technology disruptors with high commercial interest benefitting future European Space Transportation and to accelerate their derisking through rapid prototyping and testing. The award ceremony will be specifically focused on technology disruptors for reusability of Space Transportation. 

• Elena Garombo, ESA FLPP Reusability Technology Engineer 
• More speakers to be confirmed   

Day 3 – 18 June 

•  11:30 – 12:30 - European Commission and ESA events 
  • 12:00 - 12:10 Call with ESA project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski 
  • 12:10 – 12:30 Joint press conference European Commission and ESA, ESA stand 
    • Andrius Kubilius​, EU Commissioner for Defence and Space  
    • Josef Aschbacher, ESA Director General​  

• 13:15 – 13:45 – Presentation of ASSIGN (Advancing Solar System Internet and GrouNd) “Europe's role in the Solar System Internet” and Q&A, ESA stand   

ASSIGN is a programme focused on Safeguarding European role and interests in the global vision of a Solar System Internet. 

• Mehran Sarkati, Head of Ground Station Engineering Division and Programme Manager for ASSIGN, ESA  

• 14:00 – 14h30 Presentation of the Fly! project 
  • John McFall, member of the ESA astronaut reserve and subject matter expert for the Fly! Project  

• 14:45-15:15 - Panel discussion and Q&A: “ESA as a partner for the aviation community Space-based Communication and surveillance solutions for Air Traffic Management”, ESA stand 
  •  Christophe Allemand, ESA Head of Space Systems for Safety and Security (4S), Strategic Programme Line 
  • Davide Tomassini, ESA Iris Project Implementation Manager 
  • Michael Hadjitheodosiou, ESA Satellite & Telecomm System Engineer  

• 16:00-17:00 - Panel on the benefits of science in microgravity, ESA stand 
  • Andreas Mogensen, ESA Astronaut, Human Exploration Group Leader 
  • Angelique van Ombergen, ESA Chief Exploration Scientist  

• 17:00-18:00 CNES: International Charter Space and Major disasters: 25 years of activities, Agora 

The Charter is an international collaboration to provide space-based services for immediate response to major natural or man-made disasters. Its functions are simple: to task satellites in response to a major disaster and to provide fast access to satellite data to support disaster response.

• Simonetta Cheli, ESA Director of Earth Observation 
• Emilie Bronner, CNES Representative at the Executive Secretariat of the International Charter Space and Major disasters 
• Other speakers, to be confirmed 

Day 4 – 19 June 

•  10:00-11:30 Panel discusion on the European Strategy for Human and Robotic exploration, Paris Space Hub Agora 
  •  Daniel Neuenschwander, ESA Director of Human and Robotic exploration 
  • Andreas Mogensen, ESA Astronaut, Human Exploration Group leader 
  • Angelique Van Ombergen, ESA Chief Exploration Scientist 
  • Orson Sutherland, ESA Mars & Beyond Projects Group Leader 
  • Jan-Henrik Horstmann, ESA ESM Team Leader 

• 10:45 – 11:30 A Dialogue with HERA 
  • ESA’s Hera mission for planetary defence aims to deepen our understanding of the formation and evolution of asteroids. 
  • It is equipped with an AI-powered technology allowing people to communicate with it: the Hera Space Companion. Users can converse directly with the spacecraft, follow discoveries in real time and gain a unique behind-the-scenes insight into the space mission. Whether it’s the latest data on asteroids or technologies being tested during the mission, the Hera Space Companion brings science to people even as the spacecraft carries out its mission millions of kilometres from the Earth. 

• 11h30 - Panel discussion: “Space Sustainability: Technical Innovation Meets Strategic Collaboration”, ESA stand 
  •  Facilitator: Krystal Azelton, World Foundation Senior Director  
  • Andrea Vena, ESA Chief Sustainability Officer
  • Laurence Monnoyer-Smith, CNES Sustainability Director  

• 13:45-14:15 Signature event for the Statement for a responsible space sector, ESA stand 

First adopted on 21 November 2022 at the margins of ESA's Council meeting at Ministerial Level in Paris, the Statement and the resulting collaboration aim to mobilise the actors in space to make the sector more responsible and sustainable. 

• Josef Aschbacher, ESA Director General​
• Representatives of new signatories Green Orbit Digital, SaxaVord UK Space Port, Exploration Company and GMV  

Day 5 – 20 June 

• 11:30 – 12:00 Presentation on the exploration of Mars 
  • Orson Sutherland, ESA Mars & Beyond Projects Group Leader 

•  16:00-17:00 – Panel on the journey to become an astronaut, ESA stand 
  • Claudie Haigneré, ESA’s first female astronaut 
  • Anthea Comellini, member of the ESA astronaut reserve  

Accreditation and Contact on site

Media must be accredited via the main Paris Air Show platform: https://siaepresse.mybadgeonline.com/Presse 

No additional accreditation is required to participate in ESA events

Contacts on site

Polina Huard: +33 7 62 27 02 35 - polina.huard@esa.int  

Hortense de Roffignac: +33 6 64 45 42 08 - hortense.deroffignac@ext.esa.int  

For interview requests for ESA Director General or Directors, please send an email to Polina Huard and Hortense de Roffignac and copy media@esa.int 

For interviews with ESA astronauts, please send an email to Cyrielle Bouju: cyrielle.bouju@esa.int and copy media@esa.int 

Images

ESA's Photo Library for Professionals:   

Home Page – Photolibrary for professionals   

Terms and conditions for using ESA images:   

www.esa.int/spaceinimages/ESA_Multimedia/Copyright_Notice_Images    

For questions or more information related to ESA images, please contact directly spaceinimages@esa.int

Videos

ESA's Video Library for Professionals:   

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos    

Terms and conditions for using ESA videos:   

https://www.esa.int/spaceinvideos/Terms_and_Conditions

Social Media

You can follow ESA on:

X: @esa @ESA_EO  

Bluesky: @esa Bluesky  

Instagram: @europeanspaceagency@ESA_Earth  

Facebook: EuropeanSpaceAgency  

YouTube: ESA  

LinkedIn: European Space Agency - ESA  

Pinterest: European Space Agency - ESA  

About the European Space Agency

The European Space Agency (ESA) provides Europe’s gateway to space.  

ESA is an intergovernmental organisation, created in 1975, with the mission to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space delivers benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.  

ESA has 23 Member States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia are Associate Members.  

ESA has established formal cooperation with four Member States of the EU. Canada takes part in some ESA programmes under a Cooperation Agreement.  

By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, ESA can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country. It is working in particular with the EU on implementing the Galileo and Copernicus programmes as well as with Eumetsat for the development of meteorological missions.  

Learn more about ESA at www.esa.int