“Opportunities are out there for everyone. The key is to choose your path with passion, pursue it with dedication and discipline — and never stop learning."

In this special encounter, participants will have the opportunity to step into the beating heart of the European Space Agency (ESA), visiting the ESA-ESRIN centre — a European hub of excellence for Earth Observation. Spanning 80,000 square meters, this site brings together innovation, technology, and international expertise to tackle some of today’s most pressing global challenges.

Participants will also meet Simonetta Cheli, the first woman to lead ESA’s Earth Observation Programme, who will share the story of a passion that became both profession and purpose. Her leadership combines deep expertise, vision, and dedication in a field that is increasingly strategic from a scientific, economic, and geopolitical standpoint. Joining her will be Tommaso Ghidini, Head of ESA’s Structures, Mechanisms and Materials Division, who will offer insights into space exploration as a powerful driver of innovation and progress for life on Earth.

The event will conclude with an exclusive tour of ESA’s Italian site: from Vega, the new European launcher for light payloads, to the Near Earth Object Coordination Centre, the core of ESA’s Planetary Defence Office; the Φ-Experience, featuring cutting-edge technologies for the preservation and enhancement of satellite data; and the brand-new Space HPC, a supercomputer designed to propel Europe into a new era of space exploration. Because, as ESA reminds us: "Exploring space is one of humanity’s greatest adventures."