Staff

Professional Profile

Since June 2016
Director, European Space Policy Institute, Vienna, Austria

2007 - 2016
Served as the Secretary General of ASD-Eurospace.

2004 - 2007
Head of the French Space Agency (CNES) office in North America and Attaché for Space and Aeronautics at the Embassy of France in Washington, D.C.

2001 – 2004
Deputy Director for Strategy and Programs, responsible for the Industrial Strategy of CNES, the French Space Agency.

1998 – 2000
Adviser to the French Ministry of Research for Industrial Policy Funds management, aiming at support to competitiveness support and new space applications and services development and promotion.

1996 – 1998
Appointed by Arianespace in Evry, France, to lead a risk mitigation and cost reduction plan covering to the end of operational life of the Ariane 4 launcher.

1990 - 1996
Mr. Tortora was based in Kourou, French Guiana, as Head of Arianespace Operations Quality Department. There, he led the Quality Management of the Ariane 4 launchers final integration and of the launch pad operations and maintenance. He supervised the industrialization and the implementation of the associated control plans.

 Mr. Tortora started his career in 1984 at the French military procurement agency, DGA, as a naval weapons integration and test engineer, expert in signal processing and warships acoustic discretion.

Languages: English, French

Nationality: French

Professional Profile

Since June 2017
Coordinator of Studies, European Space Policy Institute, Vienna
Planning and supervision of ESPI workplan
Project management and quality assurance
ESPI databases management

2015 - 2017
Senior Advisor
Space strategies studies managment
Business and partnership development

2010 - 2015
Industry Strategy Analyst, Eurospace
Research and analyses
Database management
Events organisation
Working groups management

2010
Methods Engineer, Thales Alenia Space
Lean manufacturing and process integration
Smart production tools

Education

2010
Master in Industrial management and logistics, IPSA

2009
Master in mecatronics, Institut Polytechnique des Sciences Avancées

2005 - 2008
Bachelor in aeronautics and space system engineering, IPSA

2012
Space technology professional course TTVS, CNES

Languages:
French, English, Spanish

Nationality:
French

Professional Profile

Since September 2019
Associate Senior Fellow for ESPI, Vienna, Austria.

2018 - 08/2019
Senior Research Fellow at ESPI, Vienna, Austria.

2014 - 2018
Resident Fellow at ESPI, Vienna, Austria.

2012 - 2013
Research Intern at ESPI, Vienna, Austria.

2011
Manager of a Beach Club, Grosseto, Italy.

2009
Trainee at the Protocol Assistance Office of the Organizing Committee of the XIII FINA, Rome, Italy.

Education

2012
ESA/ECSL Summer Course on Space Law and Policy, Paphos, Cyprus

2012
SIOI/ASI/CNR-ISGI Master on Space Policy and Institutions, Rome, Italy. Final dissertation on International Space Law: “Space Sustainability and the new Normative Solutions”.

2011
Institute for Global Studies- School of Government Security Studies Programme, Rome, Italy.

2008-2012
Magister´degree in International Relations of Asia and Africa, Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Naples, L´Orientale, Naples, Italy. Final dissertation on World Politics (pending): “Asian Regionalism in the Space Sector”.

2009
SIOI Master on International Relations and International Protection of Human Rights, Rome, Italy. Final dissertation on International Relations: “Article IX of Japanese Constitution and its Geopolitical Effects”

2006
Intensive Japanese Language course, Kudan Institute of Language and Culture, Tokyo, Japan

2004-2008
Bachelor´s of Oriental Languages and Cultures, University of Rome, La Sapienza, Rome, Italy. Final dissertation on Japanese History.

Languages:
Italian, English, Japanese

Nationality:
Italian

Professional Profile

Since 2019
Resident Fellow at ESPI, Vienna, Austria

2018
Research officer at the Studies and Influence Department of the French Air Force

2018
Intern at Keolis – Assistance to the management of press relations

Education

2016 - 2018
Master’s degree of Political Science and International Relations, Sciences Po Paris, France

2013 - 2016
Bachelor’s degree of Political Science, Sciences Po Grenoble, France

Languages:
French, English, German

Nationality:
French

Professional Profile

2020
Resident Fellow at ESPI, Vienna, Austria

2017 - 2018
Intern at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)- Economy division. Worked with the former 10YFP now One Planet Network

Education

2018-2019
MSc in the Department of Space and Climate Physics at University College London (UCL), London, UK

2015 - 2017
ME in Climate-Change Science at the University of Melbourne. Melbourne, Australia

2011 - 2015
Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Political-Sciences and Environmental Studies at McGill University. Montreal, Canada

Languages:
French, English, German

Nationality:
French

Professional Profile

Since 2021
Resident Fellow at the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI), Vienna, Austria.

2020
Research Intern at the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI), Vienna, Austria.

2020
Research Assistant at the Institute of Air and Space Law, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.

Education

2020
LLM in Air and Space Law, Institute of Air and Space Law, Faculty of Law, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.

2019
Strategic Space Law Course 2019, Institute of Air and Space Law, Faculty of Law, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.

2019
LLM in International Trade Law, International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization (ITCILO), Turin School of Development, Turin, Italy.

2018
5 years Law Degree, University of Bologna, Italy.

Languages:
Italian, English, Spanish

Nationality:
Italian

Professional Profile

Since June 2018
Resident Fellow at ESPI, Vienna, Austria.

Since 2016
Chairman of the Slovak Space Policy Association NGO

Since 2015
Various positions in the Space Generation Advisory Council – NPoC for Slovakia, member of the Space Law and Policy project group, member of the organizing team of the Space Generation Forum 2.0

2014 - 2018
Member of delegation of the Slovak Republic to the UN Committee for Peaceful Uses of Outer Space

2017
Researcher for the Space Security Index Project covering national space policies and multilateral forums for space governance

2013 - 2015
Internships - International Visegrad Fund, Representation of European Commission in the Slovak Republic, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic

Education

2015 - 2018
PhD. in International Relations, Faculty of Political Science and International Relations of the Matej Bel University in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia

2016 - 2017
Fulbright Research Stay at the Space Policy Institute of George Washington University in Washington, DC, USA

2015
Master of Arts in International Relations at the Faculty of Political Science and International Relations of the Matej Bel University in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia

2014
CEEPUS research stay at the University of Vienna in Vienna, Austria

2014
European Centre for Space Law Summer Course on Space Law and Policy, Geneva, Switzerland

Languages:
Slovak, English, German

Nationality:
Slovak

Professional Profile

Since 2021
Resident Fellow at the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI). Vienna, Austria. (CNES seconded researcher).

2020
Research Intern at the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI), Vienna, Austria.

2019
Intern at Handicap International, Lyon, France.

Education

2020
Master’s degree in International Relations, International Security and Defense, University Jean Moulin Lyon III, France.

2018
Bachelor’s degree in Foreign Applied Languages, University Jean Moulin Lyon III, France.

Languages:
French, English, Russian, Spanish

Nationality:
French

Professional Profile

Since 2020
Resident Fellow at ESPI, Vienna, Austria

2018 - 2020
Strategy Officer, European Space Agency, Paris, France

2018 - 2018
Blue Book Stagiaire in the Cabinet of the European Commissioner for Transport, European Commission, Brussels, Belgium

2017 - 2018
Legal trainee, Star Alliance Services GmbH, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

2014 - 2016
Associate, Schoenherr Attorneys at Law, Ljubljana, Slovenia

2013 - 2014
Legal Advisor, Lukem d.o.o., Ljubljana, Slovenia

Education

2016 - 2017
LL.M. in Air and Space Law, Institute of Air and Space Law, Faculty of Law, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

2008 - 2014
Law Degree (Master of Laws equivalent), University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

Languages:
English, French, Slovenian, Croatian, Serbian

Nationality:
Slovenian

Professional Profile

Since September 2020
Associate Fellow at ESPI, Vienna, Austria.

Since September 2020
Researcher at Graduate School of Public Policy, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.

Since September 2019
Fellow at Space Policy Research Centre, Japan Space Forum, Tokyo, Japan.

2019
Visiting Researcher at Secure World Foundation, Washington, D.C., USA.

Since 2018 
Chief Strategy Officer at Space Edge Lab. Co., Ltd, Tokyo, Japan.

Since 2017
Researcher at Intelligence Space Systems Laboratory, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.

Since 2016
External Consultant at National Space Policy Secretariat, Cabinet Office, Government of Japan, Tokyo, Japan.

2016-2018 
External Project Researcher at Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), Jakarta, Indonesia.

2014-2015
Intern at Reuniwatt SAS, Reunion Island, France.

2013
Intern at Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (IRAP), Toulouse, France.

Education

2017 - 2020
Ph.D. in Public Policy, Graduate School of Public Policy, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.

2015-2017
M.Eng. in Aeronautics and Astronautics, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.

2012-2017
M.Sc. in Aeronautics and Space and SUPAERO Engineer Degree, ISAE-SUPAERO, Toulouse, France (double-degree with The University of Tokyo).

Languages:
French, English, Spanish, Japanese

Nationality:
French

Professional Profile

Since 2016
Management Assistant at the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI), Vienna, Austria

2013 - 2015
Administrative Assistant at Andritz Hydro Canada, Inc., Montreal, Canada

2012 - 2013
French course at Geos Academy, Montreal, Canada

2005 - 2012
Travel manager at Travel Agency "Mondial", Vienna, Austria

 2001 - 2004
Business Administration Assistant for the coffee trading company "Promocoffee" in Zaporozhye, Ukraine

Education

2001
Master degree in Industrial Economics, National University in Zaporozhye, Ukraine

Languages:
English, German, French, Russian, Ukrainian

Nationality:
Austrian