General Manager, Angolan Space Office / Gabinete de Gestão do Programa Espacial Nacional (GGPEN)
Dr Zolana João
Dr Zolana João
Dr Zolana João is the first General Manager of Angola’s National Space Program Management Office (Portuguese Acronyms– GGPEN), where he drives engineering and research challenges on communication and earth observation satellite launches with partner agencies and governments worldwide. He was instrumental in designing the current Angolan Space Strategy 2016-2025. That led Angola, in just 11 years, from a non-space-faring country to an emerging space-faring country. In addition, He built the Angolan Space Program from the ground up, successfully launching two satellites, ANGOSAT-1 and ANGOSAT-2, a high-throughput satellite, making Angola one of the few African countries to own such a satellite. He also led the technical discussions to procure ANGEO-1, Angola's first high-resolution observation satellite. Moreover, Dr João led the GGPEN team to implement the Angolan Earth Observation Program, supporting the social-economic development of the Angolan sector, such as agriculture, oil and gas, mining, construction, and others. Possessing dual master’s degrees, Dr João earned his first Master’s in Telecommunications Technologies from Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, South Africa, and the second Master’s in Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering from the École Supérieure d’Ingénieurs en Électrotechnique et Électronique (ESIEE), Paris, France. He also holds a Doctor of Engineering (D.Eng.) degree from George Washington University, DC, USA, focused on the Engineering Management of complex and large-scale projects, showcasing his commitment to academic excellence and expertise in the field. Dr João is often invited as a guest lecturer and co-supervisor in world-class institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the International Space University (ISU), where he is the author and co-author of several published articles. He is also Co-founder of Arusha Space, an affiliate researcher at MIT on the Space Enabled Research Group-Media Lab, Chair of the Steering Committee for the SADC Satellite Shared Network project, and Vice-Chair of Region D (Africa) of the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (ITSO). Dr João work received several recognitions and awards such as (1) being invited to the White House as head of an African Space Agency to be a speaker at the United States–Africa Leaders’ Summit 2022, (2) the “Space without Borders” medal from ROSCOSMOS, and (3) the Top 20 excellent projects from the global 100 AI projects for SDG by International Research Centre On Artificial Intelligence (IRCAI), UNESCO (2022). Dr João is frequently requested to provide consultancy in advising on the establishment of space programs and strategies
