Congratulations to the 2023 Launchpad Mentorship Programme Awardees!

Edgar is a mechanical engineer with a particular interest in space projects that enhance vulnerable populations' well-being. He completed his bachelor’s degree at San Carlos de Guatemala University (USAC) in 2021. He co-founded the first ASME (The American Society of Mechanical Engineers) student section in Guatemala serving as its Chair during the first cycle and he was selected to represent his country in the ASME Student Regional Team Caribbean and Latin America in 2020. Additionally, he began to participate in the Morazán Project (http://proyectomorazan.space/) as a Spacecraft Structures and ADCS Engineer in 2020. This project is the winner of the 5th round of the KiboCube competition supported by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Its mission is to develop a 1U CubeSat for environmental monitoring which will provide real-time satellite data and images to build resilience against hydrometeorological phenomena. This initiative is being carried out by students and professors from three Central American public universities. His goal is to influence societal change in underdeveloped nations that are vulnerable to natural disasters employing satellite insights to comprehend environmental trends and give decision-makers resources to improve climate resilience.

Eshana is a Quality Assurance Automation Engineer at Tata Elxsi, Kerala, India where she works on testing and updating communication devices such as routers and modems for a US-based media and communication company. She is responsible for creating and executing test cases for these devices to ensure that they meet the quality standards of the company. She also works on updating automation testing tools to increase the speed and accuracy of the testing process. In 2019, she graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Rajagiri School of Engineering and Technology at APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, India. Since last year, she has been an active member of the SGAC community where shenow serves on the Mentoring Committee Team and is also involved in many other projects. The topics she is passionate about include Space Tourism, In-Orbit services, Outer Space and Exoplanet explorations, as well as Space Robotics. In addition, she is a volunteer for various organizations, including the Moon Village Association. She looks forward to creating a positive, collaborative and diverse Space culture. Reading books and watching movies are two of her favourite things to do. She is an avid Harry Potter fan.

Esther is a passionate and dedicated professional with a background in Geospatial Information Science. She obtained her Bachelor of Science degree from Dedan Kimathi University of Technology in 2016, where she studied GIS, remote sensing, data analysis, and other relevant courses. Esther has since continued to develop her skills by attending various courses and training programs, including Moringa School's Full Stack Development Training and NASA's Applied Remote Sensing Training (ARSET) on mapping crops. Esther is a competent and organized individual with expertise in spatial data analysis, remote sensing, database management, and programming languages such as Python, R, and Ruby on Rails. She is a registered member of several professional organizations, including the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS) and African Women in GIS. Currently, Esther is working as a Remote Sensing Officer at the Kenya Space Agency, where she is leading a project on natural resources management. Her work involves developing innovative solutions for geospatial data analysis and visualization, including flood mapping in the Tana River basins, mapping sugarcane in several counties, and Ngong River watershed mapping and restoration. In her free time, Esther enjoys personal development, problem-solving, and working on personal projects that involve programming and data analysis. She is a dedicated and hardworking individual who is committed to making a positive impact in her field and society.

Ghaida Aloumi is an English graduate from King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia. She started her career path as a Translator and later became a Legal Translator. She started pursuing her passion in space in 2012 through organizing World Space Week and astronomy observing events in Saudi Arabia. Additionally, she’s been an active space blogger, communicator and advocate ever since. In 2016, she launched her Space outreach club AstroGeeks to raise awareness on space exploration history, missions and applications. In 2019, her club AstroGeeks was awarded the (Moon Landing 50) prize by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) for its efforts to inspire girls and women to pursue careers and academia in space & astronomy. Ghaida was appointed National Point of Contact for Saudi Arabia with the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) since 2019. During her term, she led and coordinated projects with the Saudi Space Commission’s program (AJYAL Space) and later joined the Saudi Space Commission as a Projects Coordinator. Ghaida also led a collaboration with NEOM on prospective space projects. Throughout 12 years focusing on space, Ghaida developed a special interest in Space and Lunar Policy and Habitats for which she took part in multiple projects within SGAC, including: 1) the Policy Action Team to deliver White Papers to the UAG of the U.S. National Space Council (Space Education & Outreach and Space Policy and International Engagement subcommittees). 2) the EAGLE Action Team to deliver a Lunar Governance report to the UN COPUOS Legal subcommittee and IAC 2021.
Because joining the space industry has been a challenge to her, Ghaida is devoted to advocating STEAM, space careers and opportunities, empowering women and inclusion of all professional and academic backgrounds, including the humanities and arts in the space industry. Currently, Ghaida is a member of the IAF’s Advisory Committee on History Activities (ACHA). Because she’s passionate about space missions in particular, her dream was always to work in a space agency, oversee space missions and cover their stories up close. She’s now looking forward to expanding her experiences and knowledge in
the Space industry through embarking on her next giant adventure and professional goal, aiming to contribute to the success of Saudi Arabia’s space program and next giant leap in the space industry.

I am Lala Hasanzada, and I hold the position of Senior Business Analyst Specialist at the Strategy & Business Development Department at Space Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azercosmos). My career began as a junior specialist in the aforementioned company in 2018. Starting with the mentioned period, I was in charge of requesting, compiling, and validating data in order to prepare detailed reports, analyses, and presentations in support of the department. Since that time, I have started working on several projects with commercial partners to develop solutions that provide value to the business. Likewise, I participated in international space events to promote the company's business activities and collaborated with stakeholders and the space business community to deliver satellite solutions. As part of this, I had a wonderful opportunity to be a speaker in the GNF Session “The Benefits of Space Solutions in addressing Socio-Economic Challenges and Developing of Space Ecosystem in Emerging Space Countries” at the 73rd International Astronautical Congress 2022 in Paris. I am in charge of for managing new business lines in the company known as “Ground Station Hosting Opportunities”. Since 2018, I have managed and signed several new contracts in this direction and expanded our services around the globe. Being a project coordinator for the second earth observation program (Azersky-2), I created a business model document, analyzed the responses, contributed to creating the status reports, and provided required suggestions. Additionally, I am actively exploring new cooperation opportunities and space awareness programs. I have a bachelor's degree in global economy from the Azerbaijan State University of Oil and Industry.

I am an alumnus of Institut d’études politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) where I received a master’s degree in law. The programme was highly formative as much from a standpoint of conceptual content as from a methodological approach. It involved core subjects, such as contract law, corporate law, cross-border M&A transactions, private international law, and international arbitration. In continuation of my studies, I did internships in prominent law firms in Paris and Luxembourg in the area of corporate, financing law and M&A transactions. My legal culture was further reinforced during my studies at the University of Luxembourg where I obtained LL.M. in space communication and media law. I participated in the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition during which I acquired practical experience in conducting legal research, and building legal argumentation on topics related to international space law and general international law. Currently, I am a member of the SGAC where I build expertise in the field of space and cyber security with a focus on artificial intelligence. Also, I am a prospective member of the IISL. At present I work as an in-house legal counsel in the space sector. I am fluent in Bulgarian, French and English. I speak Russian and have notions in Chinese.

Robert J. Rovetto serves in the IAF Space Traffic Management (STM) Technical Committee (TC), IAF Knowledge Management TC; the AIAA Space Traffic Management Working Group, the AIAA Space Architecture Committee; the ISO Space Systems TC; and the CCSDS. Output has included articles in the IAC, the journal Space Policy, coauthored reports and other publications from the above groups, NASA technical documents, ANSI standards documents, and knowledge or conceptual models for space.

Robert is a thought leader in conceptual and knowledge modeling for space, including related specialties in terminology, classification, and metadata. A related personal project, described at https://purl.org/space-ontology, presents potential solutions for space data & knowledge management issues.

With an interdisciplinary background, and varied interests, Robert aims to innovate and support the space sector via interdisciplinary space domain research, toward improving safe and sustainable spaceflight activities. With a unique background for the sector, he also aims to continuously educate himself in various topics such as space policy, law, space situational/domain awareness, and STM. Using experiences in maritime domain safety and operations, including water search and rescue training, Robert also seeks to provide thought leadership for spaceflight rescue and space traffic coordination.

Selene is an archaeologist working in space. Outside academia, she’s a rugby athlete.

She's a PhD student at Tokyo Institute of Technology (Japan) studying the origins of life on Earth and beyond, interested in exploring whether minerals could have played a key role in the creation of life. Selene's love of travel and exploration extends far beyond the Earth's surface. Her interest in space exploration has led her to pursue a career in astrobiology, and she is constantly looking for ways to apply the archaeological method to space exploration missions, to one day develop an archaeological excavation on other planets. Selene is also advocating for outer space environmental and human heritage protection policies, recognizing the impact of human influence and interaction with other planets, and the significance of cultural heritage for individuals and society.

In 2022, Selene became the Italian National Point of Contact for the Space Generation Advisory Council, showing that space is truly for everyone, and working on connecting the Italian community of students and young professionals.