Spain’s Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities has appointed Juan Carlos Cortés Pulido as the first director of the country’s fledgling space agency.
The creation of the Spanish Space Agency was officially approved in March 2023. It was created to centralize the country’s various space efforts into a single governing entity. At the time it was announced, the agency was to have an initial staff of 75 and an annual budget of €700 million.
As of April 2023, Miguel Belló Mora served as the agency’s acting director. In January 2024, however, Belló Mora accepted the role of executive chair for UK-based launch startup Orbex. This led to the launch of a nearly five-month-long selection process that was concluded by the appointment of Cortés.
The appointment of the agency’s first director was announced on 15 May during a meeting of the Governing Council of the Spanish Space Agency (AEE) that was chaired by the Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morant. According to Morant, the appointment of Cortés “represents a decisive step in the consolidation of the AEE as the coordinating center for all Spanish space activities, both nationally and internationally.”
Prior to being appointed to the agency’s top job, Cortés served as the Director of Programmes and Industry for AEE. He had also previously served as the Head of the Spanish Delegation to ESA.
