Barbara Belvisi is the CEO and founder of Interstellar Lab, a company that builds space-inspired villages here on Earth. Before starting such an unusual venture, she worked as an investor and co-founded a few STEM initiatives in Europe - namely Hello Tomorrow and Hardware Club.

The third edition of the Finnish Satellite Workshop kicked off on January 20-22 in Espoo. The major event for the space industry and science in Finland gathered nearly 800 professionals and covered the most important topics for the Nordic space. 

Strong technical skills and outstanding physical abilities are just some of the qualities space agencies look at during the astronaut selection process. But is that all? Let’s agree that if it was only about physical performance, we would probably resort to robots and AI. Yet, space agencies spend millions on astronaut training programs, making sure they are sending the best candidates for the job. SpaceWatch.Globals Valerie Vlasenko asked ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer what are the most important skills that astronauts need to possess.

EU strategy for space outlines fostering a competitive and innovative European space sector as one of its key objectives. Yet becoming a global leader in space requires funding and extensive support in the R&D.