Governance

Rodrigo da Costa, Executive Director

On 16 October 2020, Rodrigo da Costa took up his duties as Executive Director of the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), formerly the European GNSS Agency (GSA). Prior to this, he was the Galileo Services Programme Manager from March 2017. 

Before joining the GSA, Rodrigo da Costa held several senior project management, business development, and institutional key account management positions in the space industry, in the areas of human space flight, exploration, launchers and R&D. 

Rodrigo da Costa holds a degree in Aerospace Engineering from the “Instituto Superior Tecnico” in Lisbon, a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Delft, and an MBA from the EuroMBA consortium of Business Schools.

Curriculum Vitae

Declaration of Interest

Pascal Claudel, Chief Operating Officer

As the EUSPA Chief Operating Officer, Pascal Claudel’s mission is to ensure efficient and effective management of the Agency’s Galileo service, EGNOS service, Security, GSMC, Project Control and Market Development activities, working in a matrix organisational structure, and leading EUSPA’s operational activities.

Pascal Claudel has 30 years of experience dedicated to the space sector - with a particular focus on customer relations, both institutional and commercial, and spanning operational experience with launch-related activities, adaptation to evolving customer needs, and implementing a strategic vision with institutional and industrial partners.

Before joining the GSA, Pascal Claudel held several positions in Arianespace, Thales Alenia Space and Starsem, to mention a few.

Pascal Claudel holds an engineering diploma from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Mécanique de Nantes in France completed by his studies at the Centre des Hautes Etudes de l’Armement.

Declaration of Interest

Patrick Hamilton, Head of Administration

In June 2019, Patrick Hamilton became Head of Administration of the GSA, now EUSPA.

Following experience gained, in particular, at the European Commission, Patrick Hamilton joined the GSA in 2013 and became head of the newly created Project Control Department in 2014. With the reorganisation of the GSA in 2017, he became Head of Project Control & the Office of the Executive Director & Quality. 

He holds a Master of Physics degree and graduated in 2001.

Curriculum Vitae

Declaration of Interest

Guerric Pont, Acting Head of Galileo Services Department

Guerric Pont started to work on the Galileo Programme in 2008, as Satellite AIT and Launch Campaign Manager at TAS-I for the first two Galileo IOV Missions. He joined the GSA, now EUSPA, in 2013 and, since October 2019, he has been acting Head of Galileo Services Department. 

Before joining the Galileo Programme, Guerric Pont previously worked at the European Space Agency in the Netherlands, and in the space industry in France, Italy and Germany mainly as a system engineer in the areas of satellites, launchers and in-orbit technology demonstration. 

Guerric Pont graduated from ENSICA (Aeronautics & Space Engineering diploma) in Toulouse, and holds a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Delft.

Curriculum Vitae

Declaration of Interest

Fiammetta Diani, Head of Market Development

Fiammetta Diani was appointed Head of Market Development at the GSA, now EUSPA, in January 2019, previously she was Deputy Head of Market Development. She has been working at the Agency since 2009 and has been responsible for transport and governmental segments, while supervising the mass market and professional domains and contributing to some of the Agency’s major achievements in terms of Galileo market adoption and user uptakes. 

Before joining the GSA, Fiammetta Diani worked in the private sector for more than a decade, both in the aerospace and information technology industry, with focus on market and business development of products, applications and services based on space technologies (GNSS, Earth Observation and Satellite Communications). 

Fiammetta Diani holds a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from Politecnico di Milano and a post-graduate Master in Economics and Business Administration of governmental and non-profit organisations from the University of Ferrara, in Italy. 

Curriculum Vitae

Declaration of Interest

Stefano Iannitti, Head of the Security Department

Stefano Iannitti has been an active contributor to the development of security in the European GNSS programmes since 2003. He took up his current position at the GSA, now EUSPA, in October 2015. Prior to this role, Stefano Iannitti was the GNSS Security and Standards Manager at the GSA between 2014 and 2015, in charge of managing the security requirements of both the Galileo and EGNOS programmes. 

Prior to that, he worked at the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana where he was appointed Head of the Galileo PRS Unit. From 2007 to 2011, he worked at the GSA as Security Accreditation Officer for the establishment of the Galileo security accreditation process and of the Security Accreditation Board for the European GNSS systems. 

Stefano Iannitti holds a Master’s degree in IT and Network Security, a PhD in Systems Engineering and a Degree in Computer Engineering from “La Sapienza” University of Rome.

Curriculum Vitae

Declaration of Interest

Jean-Marc Piéplu, Head of EGNOS Services Department

Jean-Marc Piéplu has been an active contributor to the development of the European GNSS programmes since 1994. He took up his current position at the GSA, now EUSPA, in May 2012. Prior to this, Jean-Marc Piéplu was the Galileo Project Officer at the European Commission between 2009 and 2012, in charge of the Galileo IOV and FOC deployment phase activities. Before that, he worked as GSA Head of System Implementation between 2007 and 2009.  

He previously worked at the European Space Agency and at Thales Alenia Space France, in charge of early Galileo mission analyses, of EGNOS performance & algorithms engineering, of the EGNOS Central Processing Facility design and development, of Galileo system engineering (at Galileo Industries in Rome) and of the Galileo Ground Mission Segment design and development. 

Jean-Marc Piéplu graduated in 1989 from ISAE/Sup’Aéro (Aeronautics & Space Engineering diploma) in Toulouse, France and holds a MBA from IAE Toulouse, France.

Curriculum Vitae

Declaration of Interest

Reinhard Blasi, Acting Head of Communications

An experienced market development professional, leveraging what makes European GNSS special. Acting as Head of Communications while facilitating the coordination of the Office of the Executive Director. 

Before his engagement with the GSA, now EUSPA, Reinhard Blasi worked as a strategy consultant for various innovation projects. 

Reinhard holds a degree in Business Administration and a Master’s degree in International Business Studies from the Universities of Paderborn (Germany), Lille (France), and Bologna (Italy).

Curriculum Vitae

Declaration of Interest

Philippe Rosius, Head of GSMC

Philippe Rosius is a former captain in the French Navy in which he spent 28 years. He has been assigned to surface warships as communication and information systems officer, operations officer, executive officer and commanding officer. He was deployed in several areas of operations such as in the former Yugoslavia in the 90s, Indian Ocean in the 2000s, and in the Caribbean for counter-narco operations. 

After his studies at the École de Guerre in Paris in 2007, Philippe Rosius was assigned to the Joint Staff as navigation programme officer responsible for national navigation programmes and equipment and for following GNSS (GPS and Galileo) for the Joint Staff in coordination with the other concerned ministries and CNES. He then moved to the new French Joint Space Command in 2010 with responsibilities in space policy (national and international) and international cooperation with allies, NATO and EU institutions. 

After 15 years of military and naval operations, and a 10 year period in military space programmes, policy and cooperation, Philippe Rosius joined the GSA, now EUSPA, on November 1st, 2017 as Head of the GSMC in Saint-Germain-en-Laye (France).

Curriculum Vitae

Declaration of Interest

Miroslav Slezak, Head of Information and Communications Technology, Facility Management and Logistics Department

Miroslav Slezak joined the GSA in Brussels in 2006 and in 2012 helped to establish its headquarters in Prague. In 2015, he contributed to the start-up of the Single Resolution Board in Brussels and he led the IT unit of the European Defence Agency from 2016 to 2019. He returned to the GSA, now EUSPA, in January 2020.

Prior to this, Miroslav Slezak spent a few years in commercial application development, after which he entered the Czech diplomatic service and served for almost 10 years in various positions in Prague and Brussels, including 5 years in NATO HQ

Miroslav Slezak graduated from the Brno University of Technology in 1991. He holds a degree in software engineering, informatics and cybernetics. 

Curriculum Vitae

Declaration of Interest

Kate Szabo, Head of Finance Department

Kate Szabo joined the GSA, now EUSPA, in September 2012 after more than a decade of working for the European Commission in the Czech Republic in the area of finance. She became Head of Finance as of June 2016.

Curriculum Vitae

Declaration of Interest

Ezio Villa, Head of Legal and Procurement Department and DPO

With 18 years' experience as an attorney at law specialised in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), corporate and commercial law, public procurement and PPP, Ezio Villa joined the GSA, now EUSPA, as Head of the Legal and Procurement Department in 2016, after having worked at the European Commission as a legal expert. Since 2018, Ezio Villa has been the Agency Data Protection Officer (DPO).

Curriculum Vitae

Declaration of Interest

Martina Vondraskova, Head of Human Resources department

With human resource experience acquired in the private and public sectors, including at the European Commission, Martina Vondraskova joined the GSA, now EUSPA, in 2013. She became Head of Human Resources in 2018.  

Martina Vondraskova holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from Charles University in Prague and a Master’s degree in European Political and Administrative Studies, from Bruges, Belgium.

Declaration of Interest

Elisabetta Carrara, Head of the Security Accreditation Department

Elisabetta Carrara has been Head of the Security Accreditation Department since January 2019. She has worked on the security accreditation of the EU GNSS systems since 2008, contributing to the establishment of the Galileo security accreditation processes and of the European GNSS Security Accreditation Board. Before joining the GSA, now EUSPA, she worked in ENISA (currently the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity) and before that, in the private telecommunication sector, in the area of security and standardisation. 

Elisabetta Carrara holds a Master’s degree in Electronic Engineering from the University of Genova, Italy, and a Licentiate degree from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden.

Curriculum Vitae

Declaration of Interest

Ralitsa Bozhanova, Acting Head of Project Control and Quality department

Ralitsa Bozhanova is Acting Head of the Project Control and Quality department since June 2020, where she was previously a Senior Legal and Procurement Officer. 

Before joining the Agency in 2015, Ralitsa Bozhanova worked in the area of procurement and supply chain management for various public and private organisations such as EASA, Honeywell, telecommunications and energy sector utilities. 

Ralitsa holds a Master’s degree in Electronics and Automation Engineering from the Technical University in Sofia, and an economics degree from the University of National and World Economy.

Curriculum Vitae

Declaration of Interest