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Celestia Group announces new senior appointments

5 July 2022

The Celestia Group has announced new appointments to its senior management team to support its current growth plan and maximise the collective strengths of the individual companies within the international technology group.

Steve Jones has been appointed as the group’s new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), taking over from José Alonso, who has decided to step down as CEO in order to focus his efforts on a few start-up ventures where he is the main investor and promoter.

For the past three years, Steve has been Group Strategy Director, successfully steering Celestia and its group companies through a particularly ambitious development phase.  Prior to this, Steve was a Co-Founder of Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd, where he played a major part in the company’s start-up and early business development and growth.

“I am excited to be stepping into the challenging role of CEO at an exciting moment for the group,” says Steve Jones. “I have seen over the last three years how the business has grown in stature in the competitive and fast evolving ground segment market. The increasing demands of our customer requirements for new technology in Ground Station Systems, RF Engineering, Payload Simulation and Testing and IoT brings the best out of our excellent team. We have set our sights high and have plans in place to deliver significant growth through a complete ground station offering, directly from the Celestia Group.”

In addition, Juan Becerro moves to the newly created position of Celestia Group, Chief Operating Officer. He has worked for the group for many years in senior roles, most recently as CEO of TTI, Spain, specialists in cutting-edge radiofrequency and antenna solutions for satellite communications. He has played a key role in enhancing the business’ reputation as the industry benchmark in its field and built a high achieving team.

Cristina Barquín, currently Deputy CEO of TTI, has taken over from Juan as TTI’s new CEO.  Cristina has also made a significant contribution to TTI’s success, and her strengths will be a major asset in meeting the challenges of continuing to advance the business.

“The changes we are making at senior level with the appointments of Juan and Cristina in key roles within the business, are reflective of the part they have both played in the development and success of the group, and I am looking forward to working with them as we continue with our plans to offer a complete innovative alternative to our customers,” continues Steve Jones.

New Celestia Group, Chief Operating Officer Juan Becerro comments, “I am delighted to take on this new position and join the Celestia management team in taking the business forwards. It is a new chapter for the group and I will be drawing on all our strengths to capitalise on the opportunities ahead.  A key factor for success lies in effectively leading the operations of a multicultural and multisite organisation, something that is a complex and challenging task.  I am relishing that challenge and the chance to be part of our future success,” he says.

Founded in 1996, the Celestia Group is a multi-technology business focussed on innovative technology products, systems and services to the space, aerospace, defence, telecommunications and scientific markets.  It operates in the UK, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Germany and the US. Celestia has achieved significant growth, both organic as well as through acquisitions, evolving into a group with 240 employees and more than €40 million in sales.