• Graduated in Astrophysics from the University of Paris
• 1969-1973 – Postgraduate scholarship to study at the CNRS Stellar and Planetary Physics Laboratory in France
• 1973-1984 – Joined the French space agency CNES as Engineer, then held various positions in astronomy, microgravity and human spaceflight
• 1984-1986 – Technical Advisor to the then French Minister of Research and Technology, Curien
• 1986-1988 – Director of International and Industrial Affairs for CNES
• 1988-1989 – Deputy Director of the Office of the French Minister of Research and Technology
• 1989-1997 – Returned to CNES as Director of International and Industrial Affairs, Deputy Director General responsible for Strategy and Advisor to the Chairman, and finally Deputy Director General at CNES for Personnel, Administration and Establishments
• 1997-2009 – Various managment positions at ESA

Even before joining ESA, Sacotte was familiar with the agency as he had been the French Representative on the Science Programme Committee, Chairman of the Columbus Programme Board, Chairman of the Industrial Policy Committee, Council Delegate and member of ESA’s Long-term Policy Committee. 

He joined ESA as Director of Administration from June 1997 until March 2004, Director of Exploration from April to October 2004, and subsequently Director of Human Spaceflight, Microgravity and Exploration Programmes, taking up duty in November 2004. From July 2008 until December 2009, he was Director Advisor to the Director General. 

• 1956 – Degree in Physics from the University of Trieste and studied Telecommunications in Rome
• 1960s-1985 – Various positions at Telespazio: in charge of the implementation of a new antenna system at the FUCINO Station from 1966 to 1972; responsible for medium—-term planning and international relations, in particular ITU, INTELSAT, EUTELSAT and IMCO from 1966 to 1972; Executive Assistant to the Director General from 1982-1985
• 1977-1980 – represented Telespazio and the Vatican City on the INTELSAT Board of Governors
• 1982 – Chairman of the 'A' Commission of the Inter-governmental Conference charged with the working out of the Eutelsat Convention
• 1985-1989 – ESA Director of Telecommunications Programme

As the Director of ESA’s Telecommunications Programme, Salvatori was responsible for all ongoing projects in the telecommunications field (ECS, Marecs, Olympus) and for preparing the future programmes in this area (Data Relay Satellite –DRS) and the Payload and Spacecraft Development and Experiments Programme (PSDE).

• 1946 – Graduated from the Helsinki Institute of Technology in Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering
• 1952 – Studies in aerodynamics at the Cranfield College of Aeronautics, UK
• 1954-55 – Master’s Degree and Professional Degree (Aeronautical Engineer) from Caltech, California (US)
• 1946-1965 –Various positions at Saab aerospace company in Linköping, Sweden (project engineer, aerodynamics type leader, head of the Guided Weapons Preliminary Design Office/Office of System Analysis for Guided Weapons, Project Manager for various weapons systems)
• 1965-1968 - Director of Technical Programmes at ESRO Headquarters

During the time of the creation of the Swedish Space Industry Group, in 1962, Schalin was its first secretary and technical referee, a position he held up to his transfer to ESRO. In addition to his position as Director of Technical Programmes at HQ, he was appointed Technical Director for part of 1966 and Director of the European Space Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Holland for the whole of 1967, taking over from Kesselring. Schalin devoted his efforts to top management problems and to the management of satellite projects in a complex international environment, and to intricate questions of industrial policy.

• Studied physics at RWTH Aachen University
• 1970-1972 – Served as paratrooper with the German Federal Armed Forces. Appointed reserve lieutenant in 1980.
• 1979-1986 – Worked as an experimental Solid State Physicist at the Rheinisch Westfälische Technische Hochschule at the University of Aachen
• 1986-1988 – Specialist in non-destructive testing methodology in the research and development department of the Institut Dr. Förster Gmbh & Co. KG
• 1988-1990 –Basic astronaut training at the DLR German Aerospace Center
• 1990 – Assigned as a payload specialist for the Spacelab-D2 mission
• 1995-1998 – Cosmonaut training at the Gagarin Center in Moscow
• 1998 – Joined ESA’s Astronaut Corps, ESA Astronaut on the STS-122 mission in 2008

From 1988 to 1990 Schlegel performed basic astronaut training at the DLR German Aerospace Center. In 1990 he was assigned as a payload specialist for the Spacelab-D2 mission and started Payload Training in Cologne, Germany and at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The second German Spacelab mission took place from in 1993 as part of mission STS-55 on Space Shuttle Columbia.

In 1995 he went to the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Moscow, Russia, to train as backup for the German–Russian Mir-97 mission. During the mission he was Crew Interface Coordinator responsible for ground-to-air communications.

In 1998 Schlegel joined ESA’s Astronaut Corps and was sent to the Johnson Space Center to train as a Mission Specialist and was also assigned to the Capcom Branch of the Astronaut Office. In 2006 he was assigned to the STS-122 Shuttle mission that delivered ESA’s Columbus Laboratory to the International Space Station in 2008, performing a seven-hour spacewalk to prepare the laboratory for its scientific experiments.

• 1970-72 – Served with the German Federal Armed Forces from 1970-1972 and after reserve training, appointed reserve lieutenant in 1980
• 1979-86 – Experimental Solid State Physicist at the Rheinisch Westfälische Technische Hochschule at the University of Aachen 
• 1986-88 – Specialist in non-destructive testing methodology in the research and development department of the Institut Dr. Förster Gmbh & Co. KG in Reutlingen, Germany
• 1988-1998 – National astronaut for the German Aerospace Center, DLR
• 1998-2018 – Joined the ESA Astronaut Corps, ESA Astronaut on the STS-122 Shuttle mission in 2008

After basic astronaut training at the DLR German Aerospace Center, Schlegel was assigned as a payload specialist for the Spacelab-D2 mission. The second German Spacelab mission took place from 26 April to 6 May 1993 as part of mission STS-55 on Space Shuttle Columbia. Nearly 90 experiments in life sciences, material sciences, physics, robotics, astronomy, Earth and its atmosphere were conducted during Spacelab D2.

In 1995, he trained at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Moscow, as backup for the German–Russian Mir-97 mission. During the mission he was Crew Interface Coordinator responsible for ground-to-air communications. 

In 1998 Schlegel joined ESA’s Astronaut Corps and was sent to the Johnson Space Center to train as a Mission Specialist with NASA’s Astronaut Class of 1998. He was also assigned to the Capcom Branch of the Astronaut Office, and worked as lead Capcom and as Space Station Capcom Instructor.

His second spaceflight was on the STS-122 Shuttle mission that delivered ESA’s Columbus Laboratory to the International Space Station in 2008 on Space Shuttle Atlantis. Schegel performed a spacewalk that lasted nearly seven hours to help prepare the space laboratory for its scientific experiments.
 

• 1971 - Chairman of the ELDO Council
• 1970s - Senior official for German nuclear programme under government of Chancellor Helmut Schmidt
• 1997-2001 - Secretary General of FORATOM (Forum Atomic Européen), the Brussels-based trade association for the nuclear energy industry in Europe

• Engineering degree from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de l'Aéronautique
• 1960 - Test Engineer, then Head of the Colomb-Bechar unit at the Centre d'Essais en Vol, subsequently, in charge of the Concorde programme at the Secrétariat Général de l'Aviation Civile (1964-1965)
• 1965-1972 - Head of Division, Technical Director, Director of the French Space Centre at Kourou, French Guiana
• 1973-1982 - CNES Director of Launchers (1973-1976), Managing Director (1976-1982)
• 1982 - Centre National pour l'Exploitation des Océans as Chairman and Managing Director
• 1985-1989 – Chairman of the Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer and French national coordinator for the EUREKA programme
• 1989-1993 - Chief of Defence Procurement at the Ministry of Defence and member of the Atomic Energy Commission
• 1994 - Chairman and CEO of Défense Conseil International and from 1998-2001, Assistant General Secretary for Scientific and Environmental Affairs at NATO

Sillard was involved in setting up the French Space Centre at Kourou, as Head of Division, then Technical Director and finally Director until leaving in 1972. He became CNES Director of Launchers in 1973, the year it became responsible for the Ariane heavy launcher programme.

See also: Interview with Yves Sillard from the Oral History of Europe in Space Collection

• 1966 – Degree in mathematics from Queen Mary College, London, 
• PhD in Physics from Imperial College, London
• Late 1960s-1971 – postdoctoral research at the University of California, Los Angeles
• 1971-1997 – Worked for Imperial College, becoming head of the Blackett Laboratory from 1994 until 1997 and Head of Physics at Imperial
• 1997-1999 – ESA Head of Earth Observation Strategy
• 1999 – Regents Professor first at UCLA and then at Imperial College
• 2001-2011 – ESA Director of Science, later Director of Science and Robotic Exploration
• 2012-2014 – President of the Royal Astronomical Society (UK)

The research conducted by Southwood’s group led to Imperial's involvement in a number of ESA missions and collaborations including Ulysses, Cluster, Cassini, Rosetta, BepiColombo, and Solar Orbiter.

Southwood began working at ESA in 1997 as Head of Earth Observation Strategy where he introduced a new programme in Earth science, 'The Living Planet'. In 1999 he returned to academia to become Regents Professor first at UCLA and then at Imperial College. 

Southwood was subsequently elected by the ESA Council as Director of Science, taking up duty in May 2001. He was then appointed Director of Science and Robotic Exploration in April 2008, and took up duty on 15 June. 

One of his most challenging tasks was to head the team that built the magnetometer for the Cassini orbiter of the NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini-Huygens mission, now orbiting Saturn. 

Southwood has also chaired a number of committees associated with space science in Europe: including as head of the ESA Space Science Advisory Committee from 1990 to 1993 and head of the ESA Science Programme Committee from 1993 to 1996.

• Degree in Chemical Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich,  Diploma from Imperial College London and  PhD in solid-state physics from the University of London
• 1960s - After some years in industry, appointed Scientific and Technical Counsellor at the Swiss Embassies in Washington and Ottawa, later Counsellor for Space and Telecommunications Affairs at the Embassy of Washington. Also a member of the board of governors of INTELSAT.
• 1973 – Founded INTECO Ltd, a Washington-based consulting firm dealing with various projects in the space field
• 1979-1983 –ESA Director of ESOC (1979) and Director of Operations (1981)

At its meeting in Paris on 3 April 1978, ESA Council appointed Dr. Reinhold Steiner as the fourth Director of ESOC, and the first from Switzerland. He subsequently became Director of Operations on 9 July 1979.

• 1953 - joined the Swedish Defence Staff after finishing degree at the University of Uppsala
• 1959 - moved to the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, from 1969 Permanent Under-Secretary at the Ministry
• 1963-1989 – Swedish delegate to COPERS, Head of Delegation to ESRO and ESA Councils
• 1972-1989 - Chairman of the Swedish National Space Board from (1972-79) then Director General until his retirement (1979-89)
• 1978-1981 – Chairman of the ESA Council

Stiernstedt became involved in European space activities in 1963 when asked to fill in for the regular Swedish delegate at a COPERS administrative and finance planning meeting. He then became the Swedish delegate to the ESRO Administrative and Finance Committee, and headed the Swedish delegation to ESRO (and later ESA) Council. Stiernstedt played an important role in Swedish participation in the 1971 Package Deal, Sweden’s subsequent takeover of ESRANGE (from ESRO) in 1972 and in the establishment of the Swedish National Space Board. He became Chairman of the ESA Council in 1978 for a three-year period dominated by the first launches of Ariane and in which time Austria and Norway became Associate Member States.