New UNOOSA Director Named
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Aarti Holla-Maini of the United Kingdom as new UNOOSA Director. She will be headquartered in Vienna.
“As the former Secretary-General of GSOA, she was a strong and longtime advocate of the global satellite industry."
Tom Stroup, SIA
She will succeed Simonetta Di Pippo of Italy, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her commitment and dedicated service to the Organization. The Secretary-General also wishes to extend his appreciation to the Chief, Committee, Policy and Legal Affairs Section, Niklas Hedman, who will continue to serve as Acting Director of UNOOSA (UN Office of Outer Space Affairs) until Ms. Holla-Maini assumes this position.
UNOOSA works to promote international cooperation in the peaceful use and exploration of space, and in the utilization of space science and technology for sustainable economic and social development.
As the new UNOOSA Director, Ms. Holla-Maini brings 25 years of professional experience in the space sector including in managerial and advocacy functions to the position. Most recently, she has held the role of Executive Vice-President Sustainability, Policy & Impact at NorthStar Earth & Space; prior to which she spent over 18 years as Secretary-General of the Global Satellite Operators Association.
Strong Credentials for the New UNOOSA Director
Ms. Holla-Maini’s experience includes service as a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on Space; member of the Advisory Group of the Space Sustainability Rating managed by eSpace at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) Space Center; member of the Advisory Board of the Satellite Industry Association of India; Senior Space Policy Adviser to Forum Europe and as Expert Adviser on Space Traffic Management for European Union studies 2021-2023. She was also one of the chief architects of the Crisis Connectivity Charter established in 2015 for emergency telecommunications via satellite with the UN World Food Program’s Emergency Telecommunications Cluster.
Ms. Holla-Maini holds a bachelor’s degree in law with German law from Kings College London, UK, a master’s degree in business administration from HEC Paris, France, and she is also an alumna of the International Space University. She is fluent in English, French, German and Punjabi and has moderate knowledge of Dutch.
The appointment of a new UNOOSA Director was welcomed by the Satellite Industry Association. “On behalf of SIA and its members, I would like to congratulate Aarti Holla-Maini on her appointment as the new leader of UNOOSA,” said Tom Stroup, president of the Satellite Industry Association, in a statement posted on the SIA website. “As the former Secretary-General of GSOA, she was a strong and longtime advocate of the global satellite industry and she worked tirelessly to provide a platform for collaboration between the diverse commercial companies within the Association. SIA looks forward to working with her and UNOOSA as the commercial satellite industry continues to grow at an unprecedented pace both here in the U.S. and around the world.”
(Source: UN and SIA news releases. Images from file)