Leiden, 12th August 2026
Iraklis Hatziathanasiou has joined Celestia in the newly created role of Product Director to boost its current growth trajectory and support its mission to develop the next generation of solutions for the space industry.
Iraklis’ extraordinary career in the aerospace and defence sectors spans more than three decades at senior level. He joins Celestia from CesiumAstro where he was Senior Director of Business Development.
Previously, Iraklis was Managing Director of Swedish Space Corporation (SSC UK) and Head of Strategy & Innovation for the SSC Connect Division. He was also the former Vice President of Business Development at AAC Clyde Space. Alongside bringing expertise from senior technical roles at Honeywell Aerospace, Kymatics and QinetiQ, for the last 21 years Iraklis has held an advisory role with the European Commission as an independent expert in a number of policy sectors, including space.
“I am delighted to be joining a dynamic team with both a great technical basis and an amazing potential, where I can accelerate Celestia’s current success and drive faster and more sustainable growth, particularly in expanding its capabilities from ground technologies to space systems,” said Iraklis.
“Celestia already possesses both the technical knowledge and a range of products that cover many aspects of a telecommunications link. I am very excited about the prospect of building on this heritage to develop the next generation of telecomms solutions for the space industry.
“The space industry has been very slow to adopt the technical advances that were made in the mobile phone industry. With the global geopolitical changes and defence driven initiatives, there is both an opportunity and a major need to advance the technology and become a major player in the global market.
“We are seizing the opportunity to do both. An ambitious new programme of product development is underway at Celestia to launch transformative solutions not just in the ground segment but also in the space segment, that will be a paradigm shift for the industry. Watch this space,” he said.
In welcoming Iraklis to the group, Celestia CEO George Gardner said, “This is a key enabling appointment for Celestia. Iraklis has a rare combination of skills at senior level to enhance our commercial and strategic development, focusing on our advanced telecommunications payload ambition whilst contributing to the group’s growth plans more widely.
“He brings his own energy and insight to match Celestia’s dynamic approach to the space communications market. Together, these qualities will mean we take major strides forwards in our commercial development to create breakthrough solutions for the industry at large. It’s going to be hugely exciting and we cannot wait to see the impact,” he said.
More information about Celestia is at www.celestia-tech.com
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Media contact: Sarah Pracey + 44 7985 112 777 / spracey@celestia-tech.com
Celestia http://celestia-tech.com/ is a pan-European supplier of innovative technology products, systems and services to space, aerospace, defence, telecommunications and scientific markets. The business connects ground to space, producing reliable solutions to communications challenges. Celestia has achieved significant growth, both organic as well as through acquisitions, evolving into a group with 240 employees and more than €40 million in sales.
Celestia Media contact: Sarah Pracey 07985 112 777 spracey@celestia-tech.com
