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 2014
Resident Fellow at the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI), Vienna, Austria

2012-2013
Research Intern at the European Space Policy Institute (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 2018
Resident Fellow at European Space Policy Institute (ESPI). Vienna, Austria. (ASI-SIOI Fellowship).

2017-2018
Trainee at ALTEC - Suborbital spaceflights and Spaceport Capabilities, Export Control, Internal Compliance Plan. Turin, Italy.

2016
Trainee at Aracne International – Database management and book editing.

Education

2017
Master course in Space Institutions and Policies. Italian Society for International Organizations (SIOI) and Italian Space Agency (ASI), Rome, Italy.

2017
Master of International Relations, University of Rome La Sapienza, Italy.

2015
Course on International Geopolitical Dynamics, Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa.

2014
Bachelor of Political Science and International Relations, University of Rome La Sapienza, Italy.

Languages:
Italian, English, Spanish, Portuguese, French

Nationality:
Italian

Professional Profile

Since 2016
Resident Fellow at ESPI, Vienna, Austria.

2015
Resident Fellow at European Space Policy Institute (ESPI). Vienna, Austria. (ASI-SIOI Fellowship).

2014
Trainee at European Space Agency (ESA HQ) – Relations with Member States Department. Paris, France.

2012 - 2014
Mathematics, physics and chemistry teacher.

2011
Research Assistant at National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) – Institute for Radio Astronomy (IRA). Bologna, Italy.

Education

2014
Master course in Space Institutions and Policies. Italian Society for International Organizations (SIOI) and Italian Space Agency (ASI), Rome, Italy.

2011
Master of Science in Astrophysics and Cosmology. University of Bologna, Italy.

2009
Bachelor of Science in Astronomy. University of Bologna, Italy.

Languages:
Italian, English, French

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 December 2017
Resident Fellow at ESPI, seconded by CNES, specializing in Space Security

March - August 2017
Research Intern, ESPI, participation in a study on European access to space

Since September 2016
Research Assistant, participation in a study on small satellites and small launchers – in collaboration with CNRS, the Foundation for Strategic Research, and ESPI

January-March 2015
Research Assistant, French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) participation in a study on inter-agency collaboration – in collaboration with the OECD Space Forum

May-August 2013
Summer job, Royal Academy of Arts (London)

January 2012
Job shadowing, Wolfgang Ehrler Law Firm, Herdecke (Germany)

Education

September - November 2017
Intensive Russian Language Study Programme, French National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations

2016-2017
Master’s degree in Strategic Management, University of Paris Sud (Paris Saclay), Thesis: ‘Technological Foresight in the SmallSat Launch Market: a Critical Analysis’

2015-2016
MSc Science and Technology Policy, Innovation Pathway, Science Policy Research Unit, Sussex Business School, Thesis: “The NewSpace Race: A Geopolitical Investigation of Launch Space Strategies in Europe, Russia, and the United States amidst the rise of Commercial Spaceflight”

May 2016
Short course on Space Law and Policy, London Institute for Space Policy and Law

2014-2015
French DU in Astronomy and Celestial Mechanics, Observatory of Paris

September 2013 - January 2014
Programme for French-German experts, Ruhr University of Bochum (Merit scholarship awarded by the German Academic Exchange Office)

Languages:
French, English, German, basic knowledge of Italian, Japanese, and Russian

Nationality:
French

Professional Profile

Since 2018
Intern in publications activities, ESPI, Vienna

2017
Intern at Euroconsult, focusing on the smallsat and smallsat launch sectors, Paris

2013-2015
Project Asst. and later Project Officer in editing and publications activities, Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces, Geneva

Education

2016-2017
Master in Space and Telecommunications Law (air and space track), Université Paris Sud - Université Paris Saclay, Paris

2016
Space Studies Program, International Space University and hosted at the Technion, Haifa

2016
Future of Outer Space Security, Geneva Centre for Security Policy, Geneva

2014
European Centre for Space Law Summer Course on Space Law and Policy, hosted at the ITU, Geneva

2007-2012
Bachelor (Honors Program) in International Human Rights, University of Connecticut with the Human Rights Institute, Storrs, Connecticut

Languages:
English, French, German

Nationality:
Swiss / American

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

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 Zaporizhye, Ukraine

Languages:
English, German, French, Russian, Ukrainian

Nationality:
Austrian

Professional Profile

2017
ESPI IT Administrator, Vienna, Austria

Education

2017
Bioengineering. University of applied science, FH Campus Vienna, Austria

2010
Computer science - Technical University of Vienna, Austria

2001 - 2010
Bundesrealgymnasium Waltergasse

Languages:
English, German

Nationality:
Austrian

Professional Profile

Since 2018
Research Intern on Space-Based Climate Services at the European Space Policy Institute, (ESPI), Vienna, Austria

Education

2014-2017
Bachelor of Science in History and Philosophy of Science, University College London, Department of Science and Technology Studies, London, United Kingdom

Languages:
English, French

Nationality:
British

Professional Profile

Since 2018
Research Intern at the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI), Vienna, Austria.

2017
Erasmus+ Trainee at the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI), Vienna, Austria.

Education

2018
MA in International Politics and Economic Relations, University of Macerata, Macerata, Italy.

2016
BBA in Economics and Business, Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy.

2015
Course on Entrepreneurial and Cultural Studies, Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences, Valmiera, Latvia.

Languages:
Italian, English

Nationality:
Italian

Professional Profile

Since 2018
Research Trainee at European Space Policy Institute, Vienna, Austria.

2016-2018
Consultant assistant to Mrs. Bridget Cosgrave Brussels, Belgium.

2014-2015
Trainee at EU Delegation to International Organisations Vienna OSCE Section, Asian and Mediterranean Partners Vienna, Austria.

2012
Trainee at Danish Embassy Economic Analyst, Brussels, Belgium.

2010
Trainee at Cardiff Marine(TMS Tankers) Assistant to logistics director, Athens, Greece.

Education

2013-2017
MA in European Studies – Concentration in Politics ULB Brussels, Belgium.

2010-2012
BA in International Affairs Vesalius College/VUB Brussels, Belgium.

Languages:
English, French, Greek, Danish

Nationality:
Danish, Greek