Gabriella ARRIGO

IAF Bureau • Special Advisor to the President on the International Space Forum (ISF)
Italian Space Agency (ASI) • Director, International Affairs Directorate

Gabriella ARRIGO, Director of International Affairs at the Italian Space Agency (ASI), boasts over 30 years of experience in international space relations and space policy. She began her career at ASI in 1991, after working in the Space Office at the Italian Ministry of University and Research. Since 1997, she has served as the Head of International Relations.

She graduated in Political Sciences from the University of Messina in 1984, and pursued postgraduate studies in International Studies at the University of Geneva in 1990, as well as in Diplomatic Studies at the Italian Society for International Organization (SIOI) in Rome in 1988.

Throughout her career, Gabriella has accumulated extensive experience in bilateral and multilateral space negotiations and the formulation of cooperation agreements, with a particular focus on projects involving developing countries. She has been a member of numerous governmental delegations, playing a leading role in space cooperation. Since 1992, she has been a senior member of the Italian delegation to the European Space Agency (ESA) in the International Relations Committee (IRC), and currently serves as the Alternate Head of the delegation in the Council.

Gabriella is also a senior national expert in the Space Group at the European Union and, since 1994, a senior member of the Italian delegation to the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS). She represents ASI in the General Assembly of the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) in Vienna and on the Board of Trustees of the International Space University (ISU) in Strasbourg.

Between 2018 and 2020, she served as Vice President of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), and she will be Vice President of EURISY for the 2023-2025 term. Currently, she is a Special Advisor to the IAF President for the International Space Forum initiative. She is also a founding member of the IAF Space Diversity Award Committee and the IAF Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity Administrative Committee (IDEA), and has represented ASI annually in the IAF General Assembly since 1994.

As the Scientific Director of the Master's Course in Space Institutions and Policies at SIOI in Rome, she has been teaching space policy and international space relations since 2009. She has been a member of the Academic Council of the Mario Gulich Institute of Advanced Space Studies at the University of Cordoba (Argentina) since 2007. Since 2018, she has been a Full Member of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) and currently chairs Commission 5 on Space Policy, Law, and Economy for the 2022-2024 term, having previously served as Vice Chair (2019-2021) and Secretary (2017-2019) of the same commission.

In 2024, she received the prestigious IAF Distinguished Award for her outstanding contribution to astronautics and the advancement of the Federation. Gabriella is a strong advocate for space education, capacity-building projects, and the dissemination of space disciplines and culture to young people and the general public. She has published numerous articles and interviews on space policy and international space relations.

Events

The Global Conference on Space for Emerging Countries 2022

16-20 May 2022

Quito, Ecuador

Participation:

International Astronautical Congress 2019

21-25 October 2019

Washington, United States

Participation:

International Astronautical Congress 2018

1–5 October 2018

Bremen, Germany

Participation:

Participation