Space Security

Jochen M. Richter

Jochen M. Richter, holding a degree in public administration, joined the European Institutions in 1990. For the next 30 years, he worked in both the EU Commission and the Parliament. In addition to positions in research, competition, internal market and conciliation, he served two Commissioners in their private office (also called cabinet): Commissioner Frits Bolkestein (Cabinet member) and Commissioner Leonard Orban (Deputy Head of Cabinet). He retired as Director of the European Parliament at the end of 2020. He since has been teaching at universities in Luxembourg and Düsseldorf. Since January 2024 he has a lecture engagement at the Catholic University in Lviv. He is regularly at security conferences such as the Warsaw Security Forum and those of the New Strategy Center. As an Executive Member of the Think Tank Diplomatic Council (UN reg.) he chairs its Global Security Forum.

Andrius Kubilius

EU Commissioner Andrius Kubilius is a Member of the Euro­pean Commission responsible for De­fence and Space (since December 2024). He was a member of the Lithuanian Parliament from 1992 to 2019 and served twice as Prime Minister, from 1999 to 2000 and from 2008 to 2012. Andrius Kubilius was a Member of the European Parliament from 2019 until December 2024, during which he chaired the Delegation to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly (until July 2024).

Josef Dr. Aschbacher

 Dr. Josef Aschbacher is the Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA) since March 2021. In 2023, his mandate was extended for a further period of four years until March 2029.

Matthias Wachter

Matthias Wachter is the Managing Director of the German NewSpace Initiative and Head of International Cooperation, Security Policy, Raw Materials and Space at the Federation of German Industries (BDI). He is also a member of the Space Program Committee of the German Aerospace Center (DLR). He studied Business Administration in Coburg, Paris, and New York, earning B.Sc. degrees from Coburg University and INSEEC Paris. As a Fulbright Scholar, he completed an M.Sc. in Global Political Economy at Rutgers University in New Jersey in 2007. In 2022, he earned an Executive MBA from the European School of Management and Technology (ESMT). After returning to Germany from the US, he joined the Executive Management Program at Axel Springer before moving to the BDI in 2008 as Executive Assistant to the CEO. In 2010, he became Head of Strategic Planning, Policy and Coordination; since 2012, he has led the department for Security, Raw Materials and Africa.

Florian Hahn

Florian Hahn has been Minister of State at the German Federal Foreign Office since 6 May 2025. Grounded in the new government's foreign policy principles of promoting Security, Freedom and Prosperity, his regional responsibilities encompass trans­atlantic relations; relations with Belarus, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine; and the Asia-Pacific, South Asia, and Near East Regions. In addition, his policy portfolio includes external trade and economic security as well as security policy issues, the promotion of a rules-based order, United Nations and Arms Control, and energy policy.

Rabea Rogge

Rabea Rogge is an electrical engineer, robotics researcher, and the first German woman in space. She studied electrical engineering at ETH Zurich and gained early experience in extreme environments during three months at sea with Sea Shepherd and by leading a nanosatellite team. Rabea Rogge is pursuing her PhD in Arctic robotics at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, developing technologies to protect fragile ecosystems. In 2024 she was selected as pilot for the private space mission Fram2 and launched on April 1, 2025, aboard a Falcon 9 into a unique polar orbit - the first crewed spaceflight over the poles. During the three-day mission, she conducted experiments on auroras and captured the first X-ray image of a human in space. Today, Rogge is a sought-after keynote speaker who links space research, robotics, and innovation with social relevance, inspiring audiences with her pioneering spirit and commitment to sustainable technological progress.

Dumitru-Dorin Dr. Prunariu

Dr. Dumitru-Dorin Prunariu is the first Romanian cosmonaut and a leading inter­national authority on space policy, plane­tary defense, and sustainable space explo­ration. Born on 27 September 1952 in Brasov, Romania, he completed an eight-day space mission in May 1981 aboard Soyuz-40 and the Salyut-6 orbital station - an achievement that placed Romania among the spacefaring nations and shaped his lifelong diplomatic, scientific, and strategic engagement in global space governance. A founding member of the Association of Space Explorers (ASE), Dumitru-Dorin Prunariu served as ASE International President (2011-2014) and ASE Europe President for six years, and has been a key member of the ASE Committee on Near-Earth Objects since 2005. Dumitru-Dorin Prunariu has held several top national and international positions: President of the Romanian Space Agency (1998-2004); Romania's Ambassador to the Russian Federation (2004-2005); Chair of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN COPUOS) from 2010 to 2012; and co-vice-chair of the Working Group that delivered the UN "Space2030" Agenda in 2021. He has been appointed twice by the UN General Assembly to high-level Groups of Governmental Experts on space security (TCBMs and PAROS) and contributed to the EU Institute for Security Studies report on European space security. Within Europe, Dr. Prunariu served as Vice-Chair of the Inter­national Relations Committee of the European Space Agency (2014-2017). In recognition of his leadership in planetary defense and his key role in establishing the UN-recognized Asteroid Day, asteroid "10707 Prunariu" was named in his honor. He is the Vice-Chairman of the Asteroid Foundation Board in Luxembourg and a member of the Advisory Board of the Moon Village Association (MVA). In 2021, he was elected Chair of the Global Expert Group on Sustainable Lunar Activities (GEGSLA), coordinating 37 international experts in producing the landmark study on a global framework for peaceful and sustainable lunar operations. He also initiated and negotiated, on behalf of Romania, the creation of the "Action Team for Lunar Activities Consultations" (ATLAC), adopted by COPUOS in 2024. Dumitru-Dorin Prunariu is a member of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) Board of Directors, an honorary member of the Romanian Academy and the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, and a recipient of multiple Doctor Honoris Causa titles across Romania, Moldova, and the United States.

Andrea Rotter

Andrea Rotter is Deputy Director of the Academy for Politics and Current Affairs at the Hanns Seidel Foundation in Munich, where she heads the Division for Foreign and Security Policy. Since July 2025, she has also served as a Non-Resident Fellow at the American-German Institute (AGI) at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C. Her research focuses on transatlantic security cooperation as well as German and European security and defense policy. Currently, she examines the evolution of Germany's strategic culture, the transformation of NATO in response to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, as well as space security and the impact of disruptive technologies. Previously, she worked in the "Americas" research division at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) and taught at the University of Regensburg. She contri­buted to the CDU/CSU parliamentary commission on "Peace and Security in Europe", was a Visiting Fellow at GMF and AGI, and a member of the "Young Foreign Policy Experts" working group at the Federal Academy for Security Policy (BAKS). Andrea Rotter is an alumna of the IVLP (U.S. Depart­ment of State) and the Manfred Wörner Seminar, and serves on the extended board of WIIS Germany.