Managing Director Leonardo Space Division, Leonardo SpA, Italy
Massimo Comparini has been Managing Director of Leonardo’s Space Division since February 2025. He has extensive experience in the space industry, spanning technology and services, Earth observation, geospatial applications, space exploration, and space connectivity.
In 2024, Comparini was appointed Managing Director of Leonardo’s Space Business Unit and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Thales Alenia Space. From 2020 to 2024, he served as Deputy CEO and Senior Executive Vice President for Observation, Exploration, and Navigation at Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), and as CEO of Thales Alenia Space Italia.
In 2016, Comparini was appointed Director of Telespazio’s Geo Information Line of Business, CEO of e-GEOS, a company owned by the Italian Space Agency (ASI, 20%) and Telespazio (80%) and an international leader in Earth observation and geospatial information, and Chairman of both GAF and EarthLab Luxembourg. In 2013, he was appointed CTO of Telespazio, a joint venture between Leonardo (67%) and Thales (33%).
Comparini began his career in 1983 at Selenia Spazio, later known as Alenia Spazio, where he held various managerial positions, including Chief Technical Officer. He holds a degree in electronic engineering, specializing in remote sensing and radar systems, from Sapienza University of Rome, and a degree in strategy from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.
He is a member of the technical-scientific advisory board of the Center for Advanced Studies and Research and has authored more than 100 publications and papers on microwave technologies, space technologies, and innovation management. He has held academic positions at the universities of Perugia and Bologna and at LUISS University and its business school. Comparini has been awarded the title of Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic and the Star of Merit for Labour.
