Matthieu Lys

Matthieu Lys is an aerospace and telecom engineer with over 20 years of experience at Airbus, DGA, and Thales. Holding degrees from IMT Atlantique and ISAE-SUPAERO, alongside a certification from École Polytechnique, he currently serves as Head of Innovation at Airbus Defence and Space. In this role, his global team has delivered over 60 innovations and 60 strategic collaborations in six years. Matthieu's expertise spans the entire development cycle, including over 500 flight test hours on various Airbus aircraft.

He was ranked among the top 5% of ESA astronaut candidates (2009, 2022), selected as a Karman Fellow, and has applied space technology to climate monitoring across three polar expeditions with explorer Jean-Louis Étienne.

Matthieu will draw on his unique experience from the Antarctica 2026 expedition on Perseverance oceanographic sailship to show how space technology is vital for climate, marine, and ice monitoring.