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Satnews Daily
November 7th, 2019

New Chairman of the Space Data Association (SDA) is Named


Pascal Wauthier, Space Operations SVP at SES, has been elected as the new Chairman of the Space Data Association (SDA), an international non-profit association of satellite operators — Pascal succeeds Inmarsat’s Mark Dickinson, who will remain a director of the SDA.


Pascal Wauthier

He brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the role. Pascal joined SES in 1990 as Flight Dynamics Engineer and is currently leading SES Space Operations. He is responsible for safely operating SES GEO and MEO (O3b) satellites. This includes charge of operational teams of the Satellite Control Centers located in Gibraltar, Luxembourg, Manassas and Princeton as well as the Flight Dynamics Engineering, Software Engineering and Operations Architecture teams.
 
During his 29 year career at SES, Pascal has guided the Flight Dynamics section to become a Centre of Excellence on safe co-location operations and management of close approach risk with other objects. He also championed orbital software development and transfer orbit mission design, as well as leading the integration of the satellite operations of News Skies, Americom, O3b and ASTRA fleets
 
Pascal said that he is pleased to be taking a more active role in helping the SDA and its members achieve the goal of safeguarding space operations now and in the future. The SDA provides a valuable resource for sharing data to enhance the safety of flight and mitigate risk.”
 
The Standard Member Director Elections also voted that Brian Swinburne of Airbus will extend his term as Standard Member Director and Lorenzo Arona of Avanti has been voted onto the board.