Since March 2022 Col. Walter Villadei is the Head of the Italian Air Force representative office established din Houston for the commercial spaceflight and the access to space. He also serves as deputy chief astronaut in Axiom for governmental customers and as member of the national joint working group for the implementation of the MoU signed between Italy and Axiom. He supports the national space strategy with reference the human spaceflight activities and the MoD in the development of new operational capabilities as Deputy Chief of the General Office for Space at the Air Staff.
Main Education overview
1993 Joined the Italian Air Force Academy
1998 Master Degree in Space Engineering at Universities of Studies “Federico II” in Naples
2001 Air War College Basic Course
2001 Technical Officer Course on C 130-J aircraft
2003 Human Factor in Aviation maintenance by Lufthansa
2004 68^ Staff Officer Course at Air Force Institute for Aeronautical Studies
2005 Advanced Master in Satellites and Orbital Platforms
2006 Special Master Degree Cum laude in Astronautical
2007 Instructor Training Course in ESA
2009 NATO Space Operational Planning Course at Oberammergau
2012 Cosmonaut Wings
2017 NATO Defense College
2024 PhD Honoris Causa in Industrial Engineering
Previous Assignments overview
1999 46th Air Transportation Brigade
2003 Air Staff–4th Dept.-Unmanned Air Vehicles and Space Systems
2009 Air Staff–4th Dept.-Head of “Space systems and applications” Section
2010 Air Staff-3th Dept.-Head of “Space policy, systems & applications” Section
2013 Air Staff-3th Dept.-Head of “Innovation, space systems & applications” Section
2014 Member of the Italian Space Agency Scientific Committee
2014 IT Delegate to the European Commission for SST Support Framework
2017 Air Staff-Head of “Space Policy and Operations” Office
2018 Member National Steering Board for the SST Program
2018 IT Representative at the EU-SST Consortium Steering Committee
Intervento per il Forum PM 2025:
Human Factor in space
Il suo intervento, intitolato “Human Factor in space“, descriverà la funzione e l’importanza del fattore umano, a partire a quello personale-individuale nella carriera di un astronauta fino a quello delle dinamiche di gruppo e della leadership nell’ambito delle attività operative di un volo spaziale.
Il tema sarà sviluppato anche richiamando le due missioni, Virtute 1 e Axiom 3, a cui il Col. Walter Villadei ha preso parte.
