Lucía Linares

The European Space Agency (ESA) was effectively grounded from December 2022 to July 2024, after a failure of its new Vega-C rocket, the retirement of its workhorse Ariane 5, and the end of its partnership with Russia (with its Soyuz booster). Enter Lucía Linares, the ESA’s head of strategy and institutional launches. Under Linares, the ESA pivoted, securing alternative launches aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket for a trio of projects, including the Hera mission to the asteroid Didymos. More significantly, Linares spearheaded work with 22 ESA member states and 600 companies to bring the Vega-C closer to relaunch, with a successful engine test in May; operational flight is in sight before 2025. And in July, the Ariane 6—the next generation in the Ariane series—successfully lifted off from Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana. “The first launch of Ariane 6 was the culmination of the individual commitment, enthusiasm, and yes, sometimes tears, of thousands of people contributing their own valuable knowledge and expertise,” Linares says. Key among them, of course: Linares herself.