Aarti Holla-Maini is an Indian-British-Belgian satellite industry expert who was appointed Director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) on June 26, 2023.
Wiki/Biography
Aarti Holla-Maini is from the UK. She studied English, German and French at King’s College London (1988-1992). She received her Diploma in German Law from the University of Passau in Passau, Germany (1990-1991). She later attended the Legal Practice Course at Moorgate Law University in the UK (1992-1993). From 1995 to 1996, she studied for an MBA exchange program at the Stern School of Business in New York, USA, and received an MBA degree from HEC Paris in Jouy-en-Josas, France. In 2021, she studied the Executive Space Course at the International Space University in Illkirch-Graffenstaden, France. Later, she began living in Brussels with her husband and children.
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′ 5″
Hair color: brown
Eye color: black
family
Aarti Maini belongs to a Punjabi family.
Parents and siblings
Her father Kunj Lal Maini was a retired pharmacist; he died in 2022. Her mother’s name is Shobha Maini. She has three brothers: Naveen Maini, Bhooshan Maini and Bharat Maini.
Aarti Horla Maini’s parents
Aarti Holla-Maini’s brother Naveen Maini and his wife Punam Maini
husband and children
Aarti Holla-Maini’s husband is Dutch Rogier Holla. He works for the European Commission in Brussels. They had three sons: Sameer Holla, Siddhartha Holla and Satyam Holla.
Aarti Holla-Maini and her husband Rogier Holla
Aarti Holla-Maini with her husband and children
Profession
In September 1993, she joined Pritchard Englefield as a trainee solicitor; she worked there until 1995. In 1995, she was called to the British Supreme Court Bar. In January 1997, she started working at Daimler-Benz Aerospace/European Aerospace Defense (now Airbus) in Germany. In 2000, she moved to Munich and Brussels to represent Airbus’ interests in the European satellite navigation program Galileo. In May 2004, she resigned from her position as business development manager at Airbus. In September 2004, she joined the Europe, Middle East and Africa Satellite Operators Association (ESOA), which was renamed the Global Satellite Operators Association (GSOA) in 2021, and retired as Secretary General in January 2023. At GSOA, Aarti led the expansion of GSOA from a European association to one representing the interests of 22 global and regional satellite operators.
From left to right: Aarti Holla-Maini, Secretary General of GSOA; Paula Ingabire, Minister of ICT of Rwanda; and Colonel Francis Ngabo, Director General of RSA
In September 2004, she became founder and president of Orbitz Consulting in Brussels. Orbitz Consulting provides consulting services to clients involved in the space and satellite industries. In April 2023, she became Executive Vice President of Sustainability, Policy and Impact at NorthStar Earth & Space in Brussels. Aarti has extensive experience in various space-related positions. She has served as a member of the WEF Global 5G Alliance Network, the WEF Essential Digital Infrastructure and Services Network, and the WEF Global Future Space Council. She is also a member of the Space Sustainability Rating Advisory Group, managed by eSpace at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) Space Center. Additionally, she is a member of the Advisory Board of the Indian Satellite Industry Association. She has served as Senior Space Policy Advisor at the European Forum and from 2021 to 2023 as Expert Advisor to the EU on Research Space Traffic Management. She was instrumental in the development of the 2015 Crisis Connectivity Charter. The charter focuses on emergency communications via satellite with the World Food Program Emergency Communications Cluster.
Aarti Holla-Maini as Moderator of Digital Nations Ministerial Alliance 2023
On June 26, 2023, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced the appointment of Britain’s Arti Hora-Maini as Director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) in Vienna. UNOOSA is an office of the United Nations Secretariat dedicated to promoting international cooperation in the peaceful use and exploration of space and the use of space science and technology to promote sustainable economic and social development.
Facts/Trivia
- She is multilingual and is fluent in English, French, German and Punjabi. She also has some knowledge of Dutch.
- She was named one of the 2014 Faces of Satellite by the International Association of Satellite Professionals.
- She holds British and Belgian nationality.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education