{{Short description|Belgian engineer and economist}} {{Infobox scientist |name = Walter Peeters |image = Walter Peeters.jpg |birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1950|6|28|df=yes}} |birth_place = Antwerp, Belgium |death_date = |death_place = |alma_mater = Technical University of Delft }}
'''Walter Peeters''' is a Belgian engineer, economist and professor. He became president of the International Space University in 2011.
==Early life and education== Peeters was born in Antwerp on 28 June 1950. He completed primary school in Ekeren at the St.-Lambertusinstituut, and subsequently attended the Royal Atheneum in Antwerp. He obtained an engineering degree in nuclear engineering, a degree in Applied Economics from the Catholic University of Louvain, and an MBA with a thesis on 'Fleet Size Scheduling' (Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, 1982). Later, he received a doctorate in engineering at the Technical University of Delft, with a doctoral thesis entitled "The appropriate use of contract types in development contracts."<ref>[https://repository.tudelft.nl/islandora/object/uuid%3A1f6e4c20-e7cd-4a56-b63d-ae68799f40a5?collection=research The appropriate use of contract types in development contracts: A systems approach with emphasis on the European space sector] Delft University of Technology. (Reprinted by ESA Publication Division, ESTEC, Noordwijk as ESA STR-222, {{ISSN|0379-4067}}). 152 pages.</ref>
==Career== Peeters worked as engineer in the construction sector and in the petrochemical sector, specializing in the field of project planning. In 1983, he joined the European Space Agency (ESA) and was involved in several control and project management functions. Initial assignments were related to the extension of test facilities at ESA’s technology center ESTEC in Noordwijk before joining the Hermes project in Toulouse. After several redesign phases the mass of the Hermes spacecraft continued to increase as well as the estimated cost-to-completion; at the end the ESA Member States decided to terminate the project. Upon creation of the European Astronaut Center (EAC) in Cologne, he became Head of the astronaut coordination office and acted in Star City, by Moscow, as coordinator of the astronaut operations during the EUROMIR missions in 1994 and 1995. As far as academic activities are concerned, after a sabbatical year he published the book ‘Space Marketing’ in 2000 and joined the International Space University (ISU) as Professor in space business and management. In 2004 he was named as dean of the university, which was highly noted in the Belgian press,<ref>Gazet Van Antwerpen, Studenten in Space, GVA (15 Nov. 2004) p. 20.</ref><ref>Athena, Une famille mondiale : à l’heure spatiale, 215 (Nov. 2005), pp. 117-119.</ref><ref>Trends, Ruimte-Belg, (15 Nov. 2007) pp. 100-103.</ref> and since 2011 elected as president.<ref>ISU Announces Newly Appointed President and Dean; 14 September 2011.</ref> Since October 2018 he has been nominated as President-Emeritus at ISU. Research activities are focused on the commercialization of space activities as well as the development of New Space activities. Specific attention is dedicated to the transition from experimental sub-orbital space tourism to commercial spaceflights, leading to a publication for the International Academy of Astronautics on sub-orbital space tourism. In 2009 he was elected as Founding Director of the International Institute of Space Commerce (IISC). Special interests include the role of space activities as a catalyst of international cooperation, as presented inter alia at Facing Tomorrow in Jerusalem.<ref>{{YouTube|9_Qh_kSh0uc|Facing Tomorrow 2011}}</ref> It also led him to propose in 2014 the International Space Station as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize;<ref>SpaceNews 25(7) (2014), p. 19.</ref> however, the geopolitical context (situation in Ukraine) at that time were not beneficial for this proposal. Recent emphases of Peeters includes consulting of governments such as the Baltic States (from 2011 onwards), Luxembourg (2017), South-Australia (2017)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.unisa.edu.au/Media-Centre/Releases/2017-Media-Releases/UniSA-signs-up-to-support-space-entrepreneurship/|title=UniSA signs up to support space entrepreneurship|publisher=University of South Australia|date=29 September 2017|accessdate=12 July 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://paperjam.lu/article/news-le-secteur-spatial-pret-redecoller|title=Le secteur spatial prêt à redécoller|work=Paperjam|language=fr|date=24 November 2010|accessdate=12 July 2019}}</ref> and Oman as well as assisting young space entrepreneurs in business plan development and start-up activities. He is working together closely with the local authorities to promote space activities in Alsace<ref>Link: http://www.en.strasbourg.eu/uploads/Actualites/LETTRE%2032_THE%20SEAT_JUIN%202017%20WEB.pdf</ref><ref>DNA. Au centre du monde Spatial, 5 Sept. 2008 (Region, p.6)</ref><ref>Le Point_Nov.17.2017</ref> leading to the establishment of a successful space incubator at ISU in Stasbourg. In 2017 he was also involved in discussions in Ireland on the possible establishment of an Irish Space Agency<ref name=buckley>{{cite news|author=Buckley, Dan|title=Cork space programme promises to be out of this world|url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/cork-space-programme-promises-to-be-out-of-this-world-453426.html|accessdate=12 July 2019|work=Irish Examiner|date=27 June 2017}}</ref> Peeters is associated editor of the NEwSpace Journal and member of the editorial board of Astropolitics.
==Awards== *Full Member (Academician) of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) - Youri Gagarin Medal nr.186 in the year 2000;<ref>Medal received at Gagarin Cosmonaut training Center (Star City Russia) for support to cosmonauts, on 6 April 2000</ref> NASA Group Achievement Award<ref>The Lyndon B.Johnson Space Centre Group Achievement Award for Euromir 95 and support to Nasa 2, December 1996</ref> *Knight in Order of Merit (Légion d'Honneur) in France;<ref>Presidential Decree of 31 December 2018, Nr. PRER1827894D, Journal Officiel de la Republique Francaise, 12 July 2019.</ref> *Administrator of YouSpace.be (since 2024); <ref>Belgisch Staatsblad bijlage 10/04/2024</ref>
==Selected publications==
*Peeters, W.A. and in ‘t Veld, J., The Use of Alternate Contract Types in Europe as Protection Against Overruns. National Contracts Management Journal, '''23'''(1), pp. 23–34, 1989. *{{cite book|author=Peeters, Walter A. R.|title=Space Marketing. A European Perspective|publisher=Kluwer Academic Publications|place= Dordrecht, Boston|year=2000|isbn=978-0-7923-6744-4|page=9}} *Peeters, W. Space Marketing (in Chinese) (Caphbook, Beijing, 2004) {{ISBN|7-80144-866-9}}. 376 p. *Peeters W. ISS as a Nobel Prize Nominee? Why not? SpaceNews '''25'''(7) (2014), p. 19, *Peeters, W. and Madauss B. A proposed strategy against Cost Overruns in the space sector : the 5C approach. Journal of Space Policy '''24'''(2), May 2008, pp. 80–89. *{{cite journal|author=Peeters, W.|title=From suborbital space tourism to commercial personal spaceflight|journal=Acta Astronautica|volume=66|issue=11–12|year=2010|pages=1625–1632|doi=10.1016/j.actaastro.2009.10.026|bibcode=2010AcAau..66.1625P }} *Peeters, W. Space Science: A cradle for philosophers, Astropolitics, '''10''':27–38, 2012 *Peeters, W. Towards a definition of New Space? The entrepreneurial perspective. ''New Space'', '''6'''(3) (2018), pp. 187–190. *{{cite journal|author=Peeters, W.,Damp,L. and Williams, P.|title=Launching Smallsats. The example of Southern launch|journal=New Space|volume=8|issue=4|year=2020|pages=201–212|doi=10.1089/space.2020.0034|s2cid=230547313 |doi-access=|bibcode=2020NewSp...8..201P }} *Van Camp, C. and Peeters, W., A World without Satellite Data as a Result of a Global Cyberattack. Space Policy 59 (2022), 101458 *Peeters, W., Evolution of the Space Economy: Government Space to Commercial Space and New Space, Astropolitics, DOI: 10.1080/14777622.2021.1984001 (2022) *Peeters, W., The Paradigm Shift of NewSpace: New Business Models and Growth of the Space Economy. NewSpace, Vol (12)3, https://doi.org/10.1089/space.2023.0060 (2024)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.IAFASTRO.org/biografie/prof-walter-peeters-2/ IAF biography] *[http://www.ISUNET.edu/prof-walter-peeters ISU biography]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Peeters, Walter}} Category:1950 births Category:Living people Category:Belgian economists Category:Delft University of Technology alumni Category:Engineers from Antwerp Category:20th-century Belgian engineers Category:21st-century Belgian engineers Category:Belgian recipients of the Legion of Honour