Constantin Mavrocordatos

Member of Governing Board

Constantin Mavrocordatos is a seasoned space technology expert with over 35 years of experience in project development and innovation. He earned both a postgraduate degree and a PhD in Electronics from Sup’Aero (Toulouse) in 1990. His career began in 1989 at Alcatel Space (now Thales), where he led studies for the French space agency CNES and the European Space Agency (ESA), focusing on pioneering Earth Observation radar missions. During this time, he developed a novel pulse compression technique for spaceborne rain radars, which was patented.

In 1995, Mavrocordatos joined ESA as a Radar Systems Engineer. There, he developed cutting-edge technologies and instrument concepts for future microwave space missions. One of his key achievements was conceiving and advancing a groundbreaking radar altimeter concept for polar ice observations. This innovative concept was incorporated into the CryoSat-1 mission [1], which remains operational today. In recognition of his contribution to CryoSat, he was awarded an ESA Individual Award in 2004.
In 2006, he took on the role of Payload Manager for the Copernicus/Sentinel-3 project [2], where he was responsible for the development of the satellite’s scientific instruments designed for global ocean observation [3].

In 2017, he became the Project Manager of the Copernicus/Sentinel-2 project, leading the development of the Sentinel-2C and -2D satellites and the initiation of Sentinel-2 Next Generation mission, with a budget of approximately €400 million and a team of ~20 engineers. Copernicus/Sentinel-2 is a multispectral mission, providing global observations of land and coastal areas every five days. Sentinel-2C was successfully launched in September 2024 [4].