Careers - Opportunities - Professionals

First room

Theme: “Living on the Moon - Technical challenges”

18 November 2026 at 14:00 – 17:15

Venue MIX, 25 Boulevard du Souverain, Watermael-Boitsfort

First room: “Living on the Moon - Technical challenges”

Presentations & speakers

Topic 1

Teaching Machines to Decide in Space: The Agentic AI Revolution in Earth Observation and Exploration

Mohamed Boukhebouze

AI Product Manager at EarthLab Luxembourg at Telespazio BeNeLux

Topic 2

Connecting the Next Waypoint: Advanced Navigation and Communication for Cislunar Exploration - Antwerp

Juriaan Vanmechelen

Architectural Engineer AIT, V＆V, Antwerp Space

Topic 3

The Cyber Side of the Moon: Why space needs more than just astronauts and how Belgium is leading the way in space cybersecurity

Johan Helin

Training Manager at Nexova - Starion Group

Topic 4

LUVMI-M - a Belgian rover providing commercial lunar payload mobility

Tom Hoppenbrouwers

Business Developer at Space Applications Services

Topic 5

Powering the next generation of lunar exploration

Alice Nogueira Fey

Electronics Engineer and PC(D)U Product Line Manager at Thales Alenia Space – Belgium

Topic 6

ET CRISTAL, building the Einstein Telescope on Earth and Lunar detectors

Christophe Collette

Ordinary Professor - ULiege and part-time Lecturer at ULB

Chairs

Natacha Callens, ESA

Delphine Van Vynckt, Antwerp Space

Speakers

Mohamed Boukhebouze

AI Product Manager at EarthLab Luxembourg at Telespazio BeNeLux

Topic 1: Teaching Machines to Decide in Space:

The Agentic AI Revolution in Earth Observation and Exploration

Mohamed Boukhebouze is an AI Product Manager at EarthLab Luxembourg (Telespazio Group), where he leads the development of sovereign, agentic GeoAI platforms for Earth Observation. He holds a PhD from INSA de Lyon and drives several institutional projects at the intersection of AI, geospatial analytics, and space technology. His work focuses on building agentic AI systems that analyze satellite data and turn it into operational tools for real-world decision-making.

Every day, Earth Observation satellites stream down petabytes of imagery: more data than any team of experts could ever open, let alone analyze. The bottleneck is no longer capturing the data, it is making sense of it fast enough to matter. Volume, velocity, and veracity have turned space imagery into a big data problem that outpaces human capacity, and this is where agentic AI changes the game: instead of passive pipelines waiting for an analyst, agentic systems reason over the data, prioritize what matters, and turn raw pixels into decisions on their own.

In this talk, Mohamed Boukhebouze shares how his team at EarthLab Luxembourg builds agentic GeoAI platforms that meet this challenge head on, and why the same principles will power the next generation of space exploration. Because when the volume is overwhelming and ground control is too far away, the machines will have to decide for themselves. The question is no longer whether we can teach them to see, but whether we can trust them to act.

Juriaan Vanmechelen

Architectural Engineer AIT, V＆V, Antwerp Space

Topic 2: Connecting the Next Waypoint: Advanced Navigation and Communication for Cislunar Exploration - Antwerp

Since childhood, I've been inspired by looking up at the stars and wondering what lies among them. It is incredible how meticulous work here on Earth allows us to expand our horizons far beyond the safety of our atmosphere. Today, I've turned that passion into a career as a Validation and Verification Engineer, where I have had the privilege of working on a wide range of navigation and deep space communication developments at Antwerp Space.

In the coming decade, humanity will evolve from simply visiting the moon to building the information infrastructure for generations to come. At the crossroads of Europe, it is up to the next generation of Belgian innovators to ensure we can connect the dots.

Topic 3: The Cyber Side of the Moon: Why space needs more than just astronauts and how Belgium is leading the way in space cybersecurity.

Johan Helin

Training Manager at Nexova - Starion Group

Having worked in IT consultancy for more than 25 years, Space came knocking for Johan. In 2017, he obtained his teaching qualification which opened the doors to several training institutions. Johan entered the space industry in 2020 and now plays a key role in setting up the European Space Agency's Cyber Security Operation Center (C-SOC) in Redu with Starion and Nexova Group. Johan has been a recognised professional by ISC² through his CISSP certification since 2015.

"Space isn't just about reaching the Moon, it's about protecting it too. As Europe pushes the boundaries of exploration, new opportunities are emerging in fields many people never associate with space, from cybersecurity and AI to digital engineering. The next generation of space professionals may find their future in roles they never imagined existed."

Tom Hoppenbrouwers

Business Developer at Space Applications Services

Topic 4: LUVMI-M - a Belgian rover providing commercial lunar payload mobility

Mr. Hoppenbrouwers has a Master Degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Catholic University in Leuven, Belgium and is an alumnus of the International Space University (ISU). He is a Business Developer at Space Applications Services, with a focus on Flight Systems and on the Mobile Gravity Off-loading System. He has 20+ years of expertise in the field of Human Spaceflight, of which 10 years working as Astronaut Instructor at the European. Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany. His further expertise covers systems & operations engineering, ISS procedure management and payload operations.

Belgium might be a small country but we are capable of doing big things! A first Belgian rover is going to the Moon.

Alice Nogueira Fey

Electronics Engineer and PC(D)U Product Line Manager at Thales Alenia Space – Belgium

Topic 5: Powering the next generation of lunar exploration

Alice is an electronics engineer, having completed her studies at the Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Parana (UTFPR) in Brazil and at the Instituto Politécnico de Bragança in Portugal. Since her graduation, in 2020, Alice works at Thales Alenia Space in Belgium (TAS-B), when she joined the exciting world of equipment development for space. She started her career as electronics designer for power and analogue circuits of PCDUs (Power Conditioning and Distribution Unit) for spacecrafts, evolving to be technical responsible of the PCDUs for scientific missions like HERA (launched in 2024) and ARIEL (launch expected 2031). Recently she took the role of Product Line Manager for the PC(D)U product line at TAS-B.

The moon is far away, but the ideas that power it start surprisingly close to home. Get to know the challenges of developing reliable power supplies for crewed exploration missions.

Topic 6: ET CRISTAL, building the Einstein Telescope on Earth and Lunar detectors

Christophe Collette

Ordinary Professor - ULiege and part-time Lecturer at ULB

He is the founder and director of Precision Mechatronics Laboratory (PML).

The PML develops instruments and control strategies for large experimental physics devices, including gravitational wave detectors, particle colliders, large telescopes, satellites and synchrotrons.

He coordinates ET-CRISTAL, a "living lab" dedicated to the development of technologies for the low frequency part of the Einstein telescope (ET-Low Frequency). This laboratory operates a full-size prototype of a large cryogenic mirror isolated from low frequency ground vibrations.

Picometer resolution cryogenic inertial sensors for the Lunar Gravitational Wave Antenna

Chairs

Natacha Callens

ESA

Natacha Callens graduated with a double PhD in Physics awarded by the Université Pierre et Marie Curie and the Université Libre de Bruxelles. She started her career in the space sector as local research manager of the ESA/PRODEX project BIOMICS (BIOMImetic and Cellular Systems) successfully launched in the MASER 11 sounding rocket. She joined the ESA Education Office in 2009 as programme coordinator, where she developed and coordinated for several years some ESA hands-on programmes, including the Fly, Drop, and Spin Your Thesis! Programmes. From 2015 to 2023 she has been in charge of the ESA Academy's Training and Learning Programme offering short-duration training sessions to university students to complement what they learn at university and better prepare them for a space-related career. In parallel to secondment at BELSPO to support the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the space-related aspects, she is now in charge of developing the new ESA Academy Engagement Programme aiming at offering structured collaboration models both within ESA and externally with academia, space industry, and institutions to contribute together to the preparation of the future talents in terms of knowledge, skills, and competences.

Delphine Van Vynckt

Antwerp Space

Delphine Van Vynckt is a project manager with more than 13 years of experience in the space industry. During her university years, she participated in ESA programs to get closer to the space alongside her studies. Today, she works at Antwerp Space, where she has contributed to a wide range of navigation and deep-space communication developments, helping turn ambitious projects on Earth into technologies that explore and connect our universe.