Ian Carnelli is a seasoned space systems expert who joined the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2005 as part of the Advanced Concepts Team. Throughout his career, he has led pioneering mission concepts to asteroids, playing a key role in establishing ESA’s planetary defence programme. As General Studies Programme Manager, he shaped future missions across all space domains, supporting critical enabling technologies and payloads. Since 2019, Ian has led the Hera planetary defence mission—launched in 2024 in collaboration with NASA’s DART—to validate asteroid deflection techniques. In 2024, he became Head of the Systems Department, overseeing end-to-end systems engineering, space systems and AIT, in-orbit technology demonstrations, and cutting-edge domains like AI and advanced simulations.