Every 3 months together with ESA we offer a student lunch lecture exclusively for students and young professionals up to the age of 30.
The ESA ESTEC and NL Space Campus lunch lecture series continues on 26 October 2026 with Space for Creative Minds, presented by former ESA Lead Optical Engineer Luca Maresi.
This lecture explores how to organise and lead adaptive teams in the rapidly evolving New Space era, from large-scale space missions to innovative projects using emerging technologies. It examines how team structures, collaboration, decision-making and working methods can balance complexity, speed, innovation and mission assurance.
11:00- 11:30 Check-in at Gatehouse
12:00 – 13:00 Lunch Lecture
13:00 – 14:00 Optional lunch
Space for Creative Minds: How do you organise a team to deliver a complex space mission while making room for new ideas and fast-changing technologies?
Emerging technologies and investment are creating new possibilities in space, changing both the missions we can develop and the ways teams work together. Luca will explore how leadership, team structures and decision-making can adapt to different challenges, from ambitious, large-scale missions to the rapid development of innovative concepts. The lecture will examine how teams can balance complexity, speed and creativity with the reliability required to deliver a space mission.
Technologies are evolving at breathtaking speed, and New Space has become a reality, fuelled by significant investments from both institutions and venture capital. This rapidly changing environment is transforming not only what we can achieve in space, but also how we need to work together.
This lecture explores how to organise and lead teams in ways that remain adaptive, organic and fit for purpose across different challenges and environments. It examines approaches suitable for ambitious, large-scale space missions, as well as for the rapid adoption of emerging technologies and the development of innovative missions that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.
The lecture will highlight how team structures, collaboration models, decision-making and ways of working can evolve to balance the demands of complexity, speed, innovation and mission assurance in the New Space era.
Luca Maresi draws on a career spanning industry and ESA. He worked for 12 years in the space industry before joining the Agency, where he became Lead Optical Engineer in the Mechanical Department of the Technical Directorate and led the Optics Section from 2013 to 2021. As chairman of the Symposium on Small Satellite Systems and Services since 2004, he has followed and helped shape the sector’s evolution. His creative approach has driven pioneering projects that strengthened European industry’s position in small satellites and, more recently, New Space.
After the lecture, participants can stay for an optional networking lunch in the ESTEC restaurant. Lunch is available to purchase.
Who can attend?
The lecture is open to students and young professionals who hold the nationality of an ESA Member of affiliate State. You have to be aged 30 or under, on the date of 26 October 2026.
Bring a valid ID.
Practical information
- Date: 26 October 2026
- Location: ESA ESTEC, Keplerlaan 1, Noordwijk — Newton meeting rooms 1 & 2
- Arrival and Gatehouse check-in (bring a valid ID): 11:00–11:30
- Walk to the meeting rooms: 11:30–11:50
- Lecture: 12:00–13:00 CET
- Optional networking lunch at ESTEC restaurant (on your own costs): 13:00–14:00
Please arrive between 11:00 and 11:30 to allow time for the check-in process.