From helping scientists unlock insights from some of the world’s largest space datasets to supporting innovation and business development, Joaquim Oliveira thrives where technology, data, and space exploration meet. Based in Madrid, he has nearly two decades of experience in the space industry and is driven by a constant curiosity to learn, improve systems, and contribute to a more sustainable and better world.

Originally from Portugal, Joaquim joined SSC Space in 2019 to work on the ExoMars Science Operations Centre at ESA’s European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) in Madrid. Before that, he spent more than a decade working across a wide range of space domains, including near-Earth objects, space debris, flight systems, ground systems and data processing.

Today, he works as a Software and Database Engineer at the ESAC Science Data Centre, supporting missions such as Euclid and Gaia. His role involves optimizing large-scale archive systems, improving database performance and ensuring the safekeeping of enormous volumes of scientific data, including more than 200 terabytes of catalogues and metadata and over two petabytes of science data. He also serves as Software Configuration Manager, helping manage extensive CI/CD infrastructure and DevOps processes for a large team working across dozens of science archives, databases, servers and software repositories.

Alongside his customer-facing work, Joaquim contributes to our innovation and proposal activities, supporting business growth by helping design data-centric and cloud-ready architectures and operational concepts.

When Joaquim was finishing his bachelor’s degree, he knew he wanted to contribute to a better world, although he wasn’t yet sure how. A year studying abroad in Madrid introduced him to the space industry and changed the course of his career. Nearly 20 years later, he is still as passionate about the sector as ever.

What continues to inspire him is the constant evolution of technology, systems and data. While he now works with large-scale data environments and complex archive systems, he remains motivated by making that complexity invisible to scientists, allowing them to focus on discoveries rather than infrastructure.

For Joaquim, some of the most rewarding moments come from seeing the broader impact of the work we do at SSC Space. “I feel most proud when our work clearly supports society,” he says. “Whether it’s enabling Earth observation, climate monitoring or secure satellite communications, knowing that our services contribute to science, safety and sustainability gives real meaning to what we do.”

When asked what message he would send to his future self, Joaquim’s answer reflects the mindset that has guided his career so far: “Keep learning, questioning assumptions and growing. Space doesn’t stand still, and neither should you.”