Director General of the European Space Agency

The director general of the European Space Agency is the highest-ranked official of the European Space Agency (ESA), a space agency formed by the collaboration of prominent European nations.

Director General of the European Space Agency
Incumbent Josef Aschbacher since 2021
Term length	At the pleasure of the European Space Agency Council
Website	www.esa.int/About_Us/Corporate_news/Jan_Woerner_ESA_Director_General

List of officeholders

ELDO secretaries general

Image	Name	Country	Term start	Term end	Term length	Ref(s)
	di CarrobioDr. Renzo Carrobio di Carrobio	Italy	19641964	19721972	8Eight years	[1]
	AubinièreGeneral Robert Aubinière	France	19721972	19751975	3Three years	[2]
	AubinièreDr. George Van Reeth	Belgium	19751975	19751975	5Five months	[3]

ESRO directors general

Image	Name	Country	Term start	Term end	Term length	Ref(s)
	AugerDr. Pierre Auger	France	19641964	19671967	3Three years	[4]
	BondiSir Herman Bondi	United Kingdom	19671967	19711971	4Four years	[5]
	HockerDr. Alexander Hocker	West Germany	19711971	19741974	3Three years	[6]
	GibsonDr. Roy Gibson	United Kingdom	19741974	19751975	1One year	[7]

ESA directors general

Image	Name	Country	Term start	Term end	Term length	Ref(s)
	GibsonDr. Roy Gibson	United Kingdom	19751975	19801980	5Five years	[8]
	QuistgaardErik Quistgaard	Denmark	1980	1984	4Four years	[9]
	LüstProf. Reimar Lüst	West Germany	1984	1990	6Six years	[10]
	LutonJean-Marie Luton	France	1990	1997	7Seven years	[11]
	RodotàAntonio Rodotà	Italy	1997	2003	6Six years	[12]
	DordainJean-Jacques Dordain	France	2003	1 July 2015	12Twelve years	[13]
	Johann-Dietrich Wörner	Germany	1 July 2015	February 2021	12Six years	[14]
	Josef Aschbacher	Austria	1 March 2021	Incumbent		[15]

See also

• Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization