Careers - Opportunities - Professionals

Second room

Theme: "Living on the Moon - Legal and Societal challenges"

18 November 2026 at 14:00 – 17:15

Venue MIX, 25 Boulevard du Souverain, Watermael-Boitsfort

Speakers & Presentations

Topic 1

Lex Lunae

Jean-François Mayence

Acting Head of the Legal Department of the Belgian Federal Office for Science Policy-BELSPO

Topic 2

What time is it on the Moon?

Pascale Defraigne

Project Leader at Royal Observatory of Belgium

Topic 3

Space Weather in EUMETSAT

Andrew Monham

Head of LEO Flight Operations – Eumetsat

Topic 4

Sustainability in outer space

Prof. Walter Peters

President-Emeritus of the International Space University (ISU), Strasbourg, France

Topic 5

Ethics of Outer Space: some guidelines for Lunar activities

Prof. Dominique Lambert

Professor emeritus of the University of Namur, member of the Royal Academy of Belgium

Topic 6

Medicine beyond Earth – the next frontier of human health

Dr. Carlo Iorio

Director of the Centre for Research and Engineering in Space Technologies – CREST, Service de Aero-Thermomécanique – ATM, Université libre de Bruxelles

Chairs

Véronique Dehant, OMA
Katrien Kollenberg

Speakers

Topic 1: Lex Lunae

Jean-François Mayence

Acting Head of the Legal Department of the Belgian Federal Office for Science Policy (BELSPO)

JFM works with BELSPO since 01/01/1999. He is member of the Belgian Delegation to UNCOPUOS (United Nations Committee for the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space) and was member of the Belgian Delegation in several ESA committees and boards. He is the author of the text of the Belgian space law and of its implementing decree. He has lectured in many Space Law classes in Belgium, Europe and beyond, including during five years as teaching practionner in KU Leuven. He is a scientific collaborator of University of Liège. He has contributed to several international academic and scientific publications

The current student generation will face a different world from the one at the origin of our rules, our policies, our practices and our convictions. In that world, science, politics and law will be challenged to evolve. But our present must already provide the solid ground on which the new social, economic, cultural and ecologic reality will be built. The law of the Moon is a good example of a legal domain where we must choose which doors need to be open, starting with the ones leading to sustainability and equity.

Topic 2: What time is it on the Moon?

Pascale Defraigne

Chef de Projet à L'Observatoire royal de Belgique, Responsable du service Temps-Fréquence.

Pascale Defraigne received her Ph.D. in Sciences at the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain) in 1995. She then started research activities at the Royal Observatory of Belgium in the field of time and frequency metrology, especially associated with the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS).
She is currently head of the Time Laboratory responsible for the generation of the Belgian Legal Time, and contributes to international works on the international time scales and time unit definition and realization. She furthermore contributes to the timing and synchronization system of the European Galileo constellation, and
of the future European Moonlight and Novamoon missions of the ESA.
She chairs several working groups of the international Consultative Committee for Time and Frequency and is member of the International Committee of GNSS at the United Nations.

In view of the regain of interest in Moon exploration with some applications requiring high precision timing and positioning, it is necessary now to set up a relativistic lunar reference frame, with an associated reference time. I will present the differences between Moon time and Earth time, and how Moon time can be realized with atomic clocks.

Topic 3: Space Weather in EUMETSAT

Andrew Monham

Space Environment Sustainability Coordinator at EUMETSAT

Andrew has been active in the space sector for 40 years, in ESA, private industry and EUMETSAT, covering roles in system development, operations, business development and most recently space environment matters. One of the tasks of this role is assessing the feasibility of applying EUMETSAT’s capabilities in meteorological space and ground segment operations towards a similar role in the provision of space weather data in partnership with other European institutions.

"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together”

Prof. Walter Peeters

President-Emeritus of the International Space University (ISU), Strasbourg, France

Prof. Walter Peeters is the President-Emeritus of the International Space University (ISU), Strasbourg, France. In his career he initially covered management positions in the construction and petrochemical industries, joining in 1983 the European Space Agency (ESA) where he became a.o. Head of the Coordination Office of the European Astronaut Center in Cologne.He joined ISU in 2000 as professor in Space Business and Management, nominated Dean in 2005 and became President in 2011, then President Emeritus since 2018.He advises government organizations on space activities and creation of national space agencies. He is a full member of the International Academy of Astronautics and is member of the editorial board of several space journals.He obtained degrees in engineering and applied economics (Catholic University of Louvain), an MBA (Louvain, Cornell University) and a Ph.D. in Engineering (TU Delft, Aerospace Faculty). He authored over 90 articles on space commercialization and NewSpace Economy, the book Space Marketing (Kluwer, 2000) and an IAA Report on Suborbital Spaceflight (IAA, 2014).His present focus is on NewSpace research and entrepreneurship amongst others leading a space incubator at ISU and supporting space start-ups.

Topic 4: Sustainability in outer space

How do we ensure that space remains sustainable with the arrival of private 'astropreneurs'? A proposal for Cosmic Development Goals.

Topic 5: Ethics of Outer Space : some guidelines for Lunar activities

Prof. Dominique Lambert

Professor emeritus of the University of Namur, member of the Royal Academy of Belgium

Dominique Lambert is Professor Emeritus at the University of Namur and a member of the Royal Academy of Belgium. A physicist and philosopher, he holds doctorates in both sciences and philosophy from UCLouvain. His research covers the history and philosophy of science, particularly cosmology, the dialogue between science and theology, and the ethical implications of emerging technologies. He has devoted particular attention to the ethical challenges posed by autonomous robotics and artificial intelligence, emphasising human responsibility, human dignity and the need for appropriate ethical and legal frameworks. His interdisciplinary work also addresses the ethical and political questions raised by space exploration, including the appropriation of lunar and Martian territories, the commercialisation and militarisation of space, and the protection of extraterrestrial environments. He advocates reflection on space as a common good of humanity and on the responsibilities that accompany the expansion of human activities beyond Earth. In 1999, he received the Georges Lemaître Prize, jointly with astrophysicist Jean-Pierre Luminet.

We will study some ethical problems coming from Outer Space activities and especially those concerning the Moon. In this context, we will propose a reflection on the foundations of the 1967 Space Act as well as on its possible improvement.

Topic 6: Medicine beyond Earth – the next frontier of human health

Dr. Carlo Iorio

Director of the Centre for Research and Engineering in Space Technologies – CREST, Service de Aero-Thermomécanique – ATM, Université libre de Bruxelles

Dr. Carlo Saverio Iorio is an adjunct professor at the York University in Toronto - Canada and director of the Centre for Research and Engineering in Space Technologies (CREST) of the University of Brussels - Belgium. He has more than 25 years of experience in Space-related science and technology programmes. His interests are mainly in heat and mass transfer phenomena, and material science for biomedical applications. He has coordinated more than 25 European Space Agency-supported experiments in microgravity taking advantage of the available Space platforms including sounding rockets, parabolic flights, satellite capsules and the International Space Station. Recently, he has been appointed as an expert on Space policy at the European Commission General Directorate on Defence, Space, and Industries. The CREST has been recognized in 2025 as an official Ground-Based Facility of the European Space Agency.

Sustained life on the Moon will require us to understand, protect, and engineer for the limits of the human body in an environment it was never designed to inhabit. For your generation, healthcare beyond Earth is not only a medical challenge, but a frontier where biology, engineering, materials science, and space systems converge. The questions you choose to solve today may define how humanity lives safely and sustainably beyond Earth tomorrow.

Chairs

Véronique Dehant

OMA

Prof. Véronique Dehant works at the Royal Observatory of Belgium, where she is a Senior Researcher in the Operational Directorate "Reference Systems and Planetology". She is also an Extraordinary Professor at the Catholic University of Louvain (UCLouvain). She has been an Academician (Member of the Royal Academy of Belgium, Science Class) since 2010, a Foreign Member of the Paris Academy of Sciences since 2016 and of the US National Academy of Science since 2023. She has been awarded several prizes and two ERC Grants from the European Research Council. She is involved in several space missions visiting the planets and moons of the solar system.

Katrien Kolenberg

Katrien Kolenberg is Professor of Astrophysics at the University ofAntwerp and the VUB, as well as Professor of Science Communication &Outreach and and national manager of the Belgian ESERO (European SpaceEducation Resource Office) at the KU Leuven. Her research lies in thefield of stellar astrophysics, particularly variable stars andasteroseismology. Katrien is passionate about scientific research, art,astronomy for development, and innovative/artistic science communicationand education worldwide. She has received international awards for bothscientific accomplishments and science communication.