Aarti Holla-Maini is the Director of the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), having taken up post on 18th September 2023 following her appointment by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.
Ms. Holla-Maini brings over 25 years of experience in the space and satellite sector, working predominantly with international organizations and regulators. Prior to the United Nations, she held the post of Secretary-General of the Global Satellite Operators Association. Under her leadership, Ms. Holla-Maini expanded the association from being a regional organization to a global one representing commercial satellite operators around the world.
She was one of the chief architects of the Crisis Connectivity Charter established in 2015 for emergency telecommunications via satellite with the UN World Food Programme’s Emergency Telecommunications Cluster and has secured recognition and policy support for space technologies to play their rightful role in connecting the unconnected, in Europe, Africa and beyond.
Ms. Holla-Maini’s experience has included service as a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Space; member of the Advisory Group of the Space Sustainability Rating managed by eSpace at EPFL Space Center; member of the Advisory Board of the Satellite Industry Association of India; Senior Space Policy Advisor to Forum Europe and an Expert Advisor on Space Traffic Management for European Union studies 2021–2023. Since October 2024 Ms. Holla-Maini is a member of the International Academy of Astronautics.
Ms. Holla-Maini holds a bachelor’s degree in law with German law from Kings College London and a master’s degree in business administration from HEC in France. She is fluent in several languages, including French, German and Punjabi.