Published on July 27, 2026
IAF Hall of Fame 2026
Meet the Recipients!
The IAF Hall of Fame is intended to create a standing forum of personalities that have contributed substantially to the progress of space science, technology and space benefits to humankind, within the framework of the IAF activities.
The IAF Hall of Fame 2026 is bestowed to Huadong Guo & Carlo Mirra
Huadong GUO
Director, International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS)
China
Huadong Guo is the Director General of the International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS), and a professor of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Aerospace Information Research Institute. He is an Academician of CAS, a Fellow of the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), a Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a Foreign Member of the Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters, and a Fellow of the International Science Council (ISC). He presently serves as Honorary President of the International Society for Digital Earth (ISDE), Director of the International Center on Space Technologies for Natural and Cultural Heritage under the Auspices of UNESCO, Member of the ISC Global Commission on Science Missions for Sustainability, Chair of Digital Belt and Road Program (DBAR), and Editor-in-Chief of two scientific journals International Journal of Digital Earth and Big Earth Data.
Carlo Mirra is an entrepreneurial senior executive with almost 40 years’ experience in the international space field. Currently, he is Sales Director in the Institutional Business Growth division of Airbus Defence and Space. Mr Mirra holds an aerospace engineering degree at the University of Naples (MSc), followed by a post graduation specialization in re-entry aerodynamics at the von Karman Institute in Brussels, Belgium. He has managed European space operations in several ESA missions with NASA and Roscosmos for almost 10 years. Before that, Mr Mirra was Infrastructure, Sales and Services Director at Intospace and SpaceHab. In this capacity he was responsible for European commercial sales of SpaceHab services . In his earlier career days, Mr Mirra worked at the MARS Center in Naples where he soon became responsible for the setup of the Italian User Support Center for ISS operations. Mr. Mirra is very engaged in voluntary activities both with aerospace professionals organizations and young generation coaching and mentorship via ISU, TU Delft and the University of Naples.