Chief Space Business Officer, Leonardo, Italy
Franco Ongaro is Chief Space Business Officer of Leonardo. He was previously Chief Technology and Innovation Officer of Leonardo (Feb 2022 – June 23). In the last eleven years prior to joining Leonardo, Franco Ongaro was Director of Technology, Engineering and Quality (D/TEC) and Head of ESA's European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. He held various positions: among others, he managed the start of Aurora and Iris Program and was the Head of the Advanced Concepts and Technology Planning Department, starting the Concurrent Design Facility and the Advanced Concepts Team. He graduated in Aeronautical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano and joined the European Space Agency (ESA) in 1987, working on the Columbus project.
