Simonetta Cheli

Simonetta Cheli is the Director of Earth Observation Programmes at the European Space Agency (ESA) and Head of the ESA-ESRIN establishment in Frascati, Rome. She has worked at ESA for over three decades, both at ESA Headquarters in Paris and at ESRIN. She is a member of the ESA management team and the ESA Executive Board and is accountable for formulating the ESA strategy for the Earth Observation (EO) sector, managing the development of EO satellites, in-orbit Mission operations, ground segment data distribution and archiving, science applications and projects. Future planning involves crafting proposals for new EO programmes while adhering to the Agency’s industrial policy. As Director, she oversees an annual budget of 2.3beuros (30% of the ESA budget) and manages a workforce of 900+staff and contractors across six ESA sites. She actively engages with worldwide stakeholders including space agencies, industry, scientific communities, satellite operators, public/private entities, and international partners, managing major partnership programmes like Copernicus and meteorological programmes with the European Commission and EUMETSAT. Additionally, serving as the representative of ESA in Italy and Head of the ESA ESRIN establishment, Simonetta Cheli represents ESA in numerous international fora and acts as a spokesperson with media in worldwide conferences. Born in Siena, Italy, she studied Law and Economics at Yale University in the USA, before gaining a degree in Political Sciences (Thesis: International Satellite Telecommunication Law) at the University ‘Cesare Alfieri’ in Florence. She also holds a Diploma of Advanced Studies (DEA) from the Centre d’Etudes Diplomatiques et Stratégiques in Paris. As a native Italian speaker, she also speaks English, French, Spanish and German. She has won various prestigious prizes throughout her career, is a member of numerous international committees, and teaches Master courses on space at several universities.