Stéphane Israël

Bio

Stéphane Israël is the Chief Executive Officer of Arianespace, the European company that markets and operates the Ariane and Vega launch vehicles from the Guiana Space Center, Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of ArianeGroup, the industrial prime contractor for Ariane launchers.
Stéphane Israël has extensive experience in both gouvernment economics and the aerospace industry. He holds degrees from the Ecole Normale Supérieure and the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA). He was named a judge in the French Court of Auditors in 2001, where he addressed question concerning French space policy and the Ariane launch system.
He joined Airbus in 2007, first as advisor to the CEO, then in various operational management positions in the group’s space division. From May 2012 to April 2013, he was chief of staff in the cabinet of the French Minister for Productive Recovery, Ministry of Industry, Digital Economy, SMEs and Innovation.
Stéphane Israël was named Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Arianespace in April 2013. When Arianespace’s governance structure changed in April 2017, he became Chief Executive Officer of Arianespace and a member of parent company ArianeGroup’s Executive Committee. Stéphane Israël is Chairman of the Board of Directors of CNAM (Conservatoire national des arts et métiers), and is on the Board of Directors of Carrefour (senior director and chairman of the audit committee) and Ecole Normale Supérieure.