One of the major figures of European satellite communications, Giuliano Berretta, has died at the age of 84.
The former chairman and CEO of Eutelsat played a key role in shaping the satellite company and the European space sector.
Eva Berneke, Eutelsat’s current chief executive said: “Giuliano Berretta led Eutelsat at a pivotal moment in our development, moving the group forward with a clear vision combined with energy and passion. This passion and wealth of ideas never left him, and he continued to interact, nudge, help and support the group until his very last years. Always with a smile and the best intentions. A truly great leader who will be missed by many.”
TF1 chairman and chief executive Rodolphe Belmer, who later followed Berretta at Eutelsat said he was “A visionnary, a pioneer, an entrepreneur. A man of passion, of energy, of courage. A driving force of the European space sector.”
Giuliano Berretta graduated in electronic engineering at the University of Padua before joining Selenia (now Alenia Alcatel Space) in 1964. His break came in 1971, when he became head of telecommunications systems at the European Space Agency’s ESTEC centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. In 1978 he moved to Paris to head ESA’s Missions and Telecommunications Programmes Office.
Beretta joined Eutelsat in 1991, when it was still an intergovernmental organisation. He was successively sales director (1990-1998), general manager (1999-2001), then chairman of the management board (2001-2004). He became CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors in 2004.
He left in October 2011, two years after handed over the CEO role to Michel de Rosen.
