Cecilia Blacker Sy

Head of Planning, Strategy and Management Coordination Office at European Space Agency

Speaker

Cecilia Blacker Sy is a senior executive at the European Space Agency with more than 25 years of experience in strategy, programme management, stakeholder engagement, and business operations across the space sector. From 1 July, she serves in ESA’s Directorate of Resilience, Navigation and Connectivity as Head of the Strategy and Stakeholder Engagement Office.

She has held senior roles in ESA’s Directorates of Connectivity and Secure Communications and Earth Observation, leading functions in the intersection of strategic planning, governance, and programme delivery. This includes strong engagement in the preparation of ESA Ministerial Councils, where strategic programme priorities and investment decisions are defined. Her experience includes working with ESA’s Member States, and engaging with industry, the European Commission, and international partners.

She also brings private-sector experience from NASDAQ OMX, where she led business and project management teams developing trading systems for financial and commodity exchange markets.

She holds a degree in Economics and Business Administration, an MBA from the Stockholm School of Economics, and completed the Space Studies Program at the International Space University.