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Programme

October 2, 2024, Egmont Palace, Brussels

Plenary session | 6 Topic sessions | Networking | Cocktail

Morning Plenary session
09:00 – 13:00

09:00 – 09:30 Arrival time / Pre-event: Flashback on the previous Switch to Space events (pictures from the previous events).

We will start on time!
09:30 – 09:50 Students & Young professionals share their experience
09:52 – 10:00 Welcome by Dominique Tilmans
10:00 – 10:10 Introduction to Plenary by Mohammad Iranmanesh

1st part | VISION - Space is the future (10:10 – 11:00)

Chair: Sabri Mekaoui

Presentations & speakers:

  • Guillaume de la Brosse, EU - Head of Unit for Space innovation, Start-ups, Economics

  • Benoit Deper, CEO and founder – Aerospacelab

  • Heriberto Saldivar, Head of the Foresight, Strategy and Coordination Department - European Space Agency - ESA

2nd part | Challenges - Security is essential (11:10 – 12:00)

Chair: Mohammad Iranmanesh

Presentations & speakers:

  • Federico Rossi, President and CEO - Telespazio

  • Bart Desoete, Business Development Manager - OIP

  • Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, Head of the Walloon Platform for the IPCC

  • Koen Puimège, Chairman of the board of the Flemish space industry (VRI), member of the board of Belgospace and managing director of Antwerp Space NV

3rd part | Solutions - What are we doing? (12:10 – 13:00)

Chairs: Walter Peeters and Veronique Dehant

Presentation & speaker:

  • Philippe Camut, Head of the Space Security Centre within the Belgian Defense

  • Jean-Jacques Dordain was the sixth Director General of ESA, serving from 2003 to 2015

  • Patrick Chatard Moulin, Head of the Space Division at the European External Action Service (EEAS)

Cup of Coffee

Lunch
13:00 – 14:30

  • Speed dating

  • CV corner – propose your CV for vacancies or internship opportunities

  • Networking between students and young professionals and research centres, Universities, and industry representatives

Topics 
15:00 – 17:00

Topic 1
Space Weather: A dynamic interplay between Earth and Space

Chairs: Veronique Dehant and Pierre Rochus

Presentations & Speakers:

  • Solar activity through observations and modelling
    Jasmina Magdalenic, Work Leader at Royal Observatory of Belgium & Professor - KU Leuven

  • From Sunspots to Solar Storms: CSL's 60-Year Journey in Space Weather Exploration
    Christian Kintziger, Head of Space Systems Program - Centre Spatial de Liège

  • Interactions between space particles and the terrestrial upper atmosphere
    Viviane PierrardHead of the solar wind division - Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy

  • CMOS image sensor readout electronics for sun observation instruments (SWAP, Proba3 & EUI, Solar Orbiter)
    Eric Callut, Senior Project Manager and Space business developer - Deltatec

  • Space Weather: A dynamic interplay between Earth and Space which affects our daily life
    Flavio Murolo, Meteosat Spacecraft Operations Manager – EUMETSAT

Topic 2

Climate change: Can Space contribute to a sustainable solution?

Chairs: Patrick Hendrick and Aurélie Bellemans

Presentations & Speakers:

  • Exploring the impact of earth observation technologies on driving decarbonization initiatives
    Matteo Manieri, Open Innovation Manager - Telespazio

  • Improving sea level projections with satellite remote sensing observations
    Frank Pattyn, Full Professor - ULB

  • Monitoring earth: Space instruments development for climate change
    Bastien Ricour, AIV Team Leader - OIP

  • Climate from space at EUMETSAT – understand its evolution and support applicationsMarie Doutriaux-Boucher, Climate Product Expert - EUMETSAT

  • ALTIUS Atmospheric Characterization Mission: from Bits to Science
    Carl-Henrik Dahlqvist, Physics Engineer - Spacebel

  • Copernicus – Europe's key programme to monitor our planet
    Jean-Emmanuel Roty, Project Manager - Aerospacelab

Topic 3

Safeguarding Earth: Advances in Planetary Defense and Protection

Chairs: Mohammad Iranmanesh and Sarah Baatout

Presentations & Speakers:

  • From Simulations to Spacecraft: The Software and Systems Behind Planetary Defense
    Joffrey Coheur, Space and Ground Systems Engineer – SpaceBel

  • Hera mission - Belgium's scientific involvement
    Özgür Karatekin, Research scientist - Royal Observatory Belgium

  • Planetary Protection: Preserving Earth's Biosphere and The Quest for the Origins of Life
    Francisca Paiva, Intern in Planetary Protection - European Space Agency

  • In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU): Oxygen Extraction from Lunar Regolith
    Arthur Vangeffelen, Thermomechanical Systems Engineer - Space Applications Services

  • Where do meteorites come from? How to link meteorites to their asteroid parent bodies
    Lisa Krämer RuggiuFWO Postdoctoral fellow at the AMGC lab - Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Topic 4

Cybersecurity: Protecting our space assets

Chairs: Sabri Mekaoui

Presentations & Speakers:

  • The Cyber Command and Space Collaboration
    Raphael Tais, CyCom – Cyber Force Protection (Adj)- ESA-ESEC Liaison Officer

  • From LEO to cislunar space, SONACA is supplier at the forefront of a responsible and international space economy
    Vivien Croes, Space Business Unit Manager - SONACA

  • Clouds, Clusters & Constellations: Securing Space Data in the Modern Era
    Jesper Larsson, Cloud Engineer – Constellr

  • Protecting Galileo Ground Segment
    Jose Torres -  Operations/Head of Cyber Security -Telespazio

Topic 5

Space Debris: From trash to treasure

Chairs: Natacha Callens and Pierre Schrooyen

Presentations & Speakers:

  • Improving the prediction of space debris degradation falling back to Earth: an overview of numerical simulation strategies
    David Henneaux, Research Engineer in the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) team - Cenaero

  • Why is it so challenging to predict the orbital lifetimes of Earth satellites?
    Gaetan Kerschen, Professor of Aerospace Engineering, Space Structures and Systems Laboratory, Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Liège

  • Orbital lifetime of space debris and chaos
    Jerome Daquin, Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics, University of Namur

  • Burning up satellites in the lab: VKI's contribution to the clean space initiative in the world's largest inductive plasma wind-tunnel
    Bernd Helber, Senior research Engineer - VKI

  • A Blaze in the Sky: Exploring Spacecraft Demise with DRACO
    Jeroen Van den Eynde, ​Head of the Aerothermodynamics and Flight Vehicle Engineering Section - European Space Agency

Topic 6

Artemis: Fortifying our outpost in space

Chairs: Walter Peeters and Vladimir Pletser

Presentations & Speakers:

  • Belgium to the Moon? Between Reality, Law and Ethics
    Jean-François MayenceSenior Legal Advisor - BELSPO

  • IBDM: Connecting Europe to the Moon
    Frank Preud'homme, Sales and Business Development Director and a Board Member - Redwire

  • Moondust Matters: Exploring the Health Implications of Lunar Dust Exposure for Astronauts
    Silvana Miranda, PhD Student - SCK CEN | Radiation Biology, Immunology, Space Researcher

  • Some legal and philosophical thoughts on the exploration and exploitation of lunar
    resources

    René Oosterlinck, Professor of Space Law - University of Ghent

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Cocktail 
17:30 – 21:00

Possibility to network with all the participants, speakers and sponsors of the Switch to Space.

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Registration is open!

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