President of the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), the French space agency, since 2013. He is also Chair of the Council of the European Space Agency (ESA) and President of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF). He is a qualified engineer and scientist who has devoted his entire career to the European space program, holding positions within the French National Scientific Research Agency CNRS, several French ministries, at Novespace and a first stint with CNES before joining Starsem and Arianespace for 12 years, where he was CEO then Chairman & CEO. He is a member of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA). He has received several awards from France, the Russian Federation, the Government of Japan and Israel.
For a reasonably open world
