The next 50 years will be different. The space sector is changing rapidly. NewSpace is rising, and OldSpace is evolving. ESA must find its role in this new world and I have no doubt it will. ESA will remain a driving force in space exploration for decades to come.

Happy 50th birthday, ESA! 🎉

My professional life has been deeply connected with ESA, and I’m grateful to be part of this ecosystem - one that brings together the brightest engineers, visionary thinkers, and some of the boldest projects pushing the boundaries of human knowledge.

Since last year, I’ve also had the honor of advising ESA’s Director General as a member of the NewSpace Advisory Group.

Meanwhile, my path took a different direction. I founded company Spacemanic and became an ESA BIC incubatee in 2019. Since then, Spacemanic and our incredible team have been involved in several ESA projects in Czech republic, most notably the project CORVUS under the ESA PIONEER programme.

I still remember how proud I felt when the first ESA delegation visited Slovakia, and I had the privilege to host them. Today, Slovakia is an associate member of ESA and, hopefully, will become a full member by the end of the decade.

That moment was pivotal for me. I decided to return home and, together with my colleagues, founded the Slovak Organisation for Space Activities (SOSA). We worked tirelessly for years to help Slovakia enter the ESA PECS program. Something that finally happened in 2015.

Starship was supposed to be a gateway to a new era for humanity, a step toward becoming a multiplanetary species. Instead, Elon Musk is pulling us back into the darkest chapters of our past.

Nechceli sme pomáhať Ukrajine brániť Európu? Nakoniec budeme musieť Rusov odrážať na našom území. Slovensko sa možno ako pohotový kolaborant odovzdá bez boja.
Smutok, beznádej a bezmocnosť tvárou v tvár horde hlúpych a zbabelých ľudí.

Akýkoľvek „mier“, ktorý Ukrajine vezme časť územia alebo agresorovi poskytne akékoľvek ústupky, povedie v krátkodobom horizonte k ešte väčšej vojne, ktorá zasiahne nás všetkých. Ostatne, o paralelách s 30. rokmi 20. storočia hovorí každý príčetný komentátor.

To dalo Putinovi priestor vybudovať vojnovú ekonomiku a čakať na vhodnú situáciu a obrat – ako ten, ktorý práve nastal v Spojených štátoch – a ktorý ho opäť dostane na koňa. Európa a svet sa len ďalej pozerá, ako rusi vraždia nevinných ľudí na ich vlastnom území.

Ukrajina však dostala len tradičné floskule o „hlbokom znepokojení“ a spojenci sa len veľmi pomaly a váhavo rozhodovali, či a akú pomoc sú ochotní poskytnúť.