Roger Ward

CTO, Thales Alenia Space

Roger Ward qualified as an electronic engineer before spending a short time in the defence industry. He then caught the space bug and has been working in the space industry ever since. Initially, this was as an avionics/software engineer in Matra Marconi Space (now Airbus), working on large ESA missions such as SOHO, EnviSat and parts of the ISS. Roger then moved to a small software house to set up a self-standing on-board software business, winning projects commercially as well as with ESA and NASA for flight software on missions such as the ExoMars Rover, CryoSat and Grace Follow-On. A few years ago, he returned to the large space prime world when he became CTO of Thales Alenia Space in the UK, combining R&D, innovation, business development and Technology. In this role, Roger has helped grow the UK team rapidly and helped the company expand into new areas of business, such as space-based solar power, very low orbit satellites and ISRU. As part of this CTO role, he has helped several UK SMEs through early-stage development, access to ESA business incubation and the Thales Alenia Space Space Business Catalyst.