Born in Avigliana (TO) the 7th of April 1955, Walter Cugno boasts a 40 years long experience in the development of complex projects in the field of Aerospace, most of all for Space Exploration programs in both manned and robotic configuration. Across the years he has been taking on assignments with increasing responsibility, from Aeritalia, Alenia Spazio, Alcatel Alenia Space to Thales Alenia Space. Before the creation of the Joint Venture between Leonardo and Thales, Walter Cugno has served as Program and Operation Manager, acquiring an extensive know how in engineering, design, production & manufacturing, assembly, integration, testing and R&D. He had significant roles in projects like Spacelab, Tethered Satellite, IRIS, Lageos, Hipparcos and SAX X-ray satellites, acting as Product Assurance Manager, Assembly, Integration and Test manager, Launch Operation Manager and Project Manager. From 1997 to 2013 served as Program Manager of International Space Station programs, in particular for New NASA Initiative like the Nodes 2 (Harmony) & 3 (Tranquility), the Cupola, MPLM (Multipurpose Logistic Module) and the Cygnus Pressurized Cargo Modules. Since January 1st, 2016 Walter Cugno is Vice President of the Domain Exploration and Science of Thales Alenia Space and Responsible of the activities and the site in Turin. He is also Member of the Ste ring Board of ALTEC, company jointly owned by Thales Alenia Space and the Italian Space Agency.