Meet the Team | ASTRA Aerospace Design Engineering

OUR TEAM

Who we are

Our talented team of engineers is behind everything we do at ASTRA Aerospace Design and Engineering. Our team consists of a mixture of young engineers, technicians and technical staff led by experienced senior professional engineers. The team has many decades of industrial and research expertise. We take pride in our technological culture, which enables us to achieve great things together every day. Whether we’re undertaking new projects or working in new sectors, we adhere to the highest industry and environmental standards.

CHRISTO EBERSOHN

Chief Executive Officer
Director, Founder

Founder and CEO of ASTRA - a former SA Air Force combat and instructor pilot who studied aeronautical engineering and later followed a career as an entrepreneur in manufacturing and CEO of a number of aviation companies ranging from a listed airline to a super large international flight training academy.

JEAN ROSSOUW

Director, Co-founder

Co-founder of ASTRA and CEO of TFASA who majored in experimental flight testing and certification, is a former SA Air Force combat pilot and flight test engineer with 30 years of relevant experience. After leaving the Air Force he pioneered civilian flight testing and qualification in China and landed several contracts to evaluate newly developed aircraft and to train test pilots. As shareholder of the largest flight training academy in the southern hemisphere he intimately understands the end user requirements with regard to trainer aircraft and full motion flight simulators. His network and team of international test pilots and engineers equal the talent pool of companies such as Boeing and Airbus.

The company’s two founders Christo Ebersöhn and Jean Rossouw are both ex-military fighter pilots retired from the SA Airforce and they own 100% of the company. Christo specialised in Ab-Initio and advanced combat pilot training and Jean specialised in experimental and specialised flight testing of new aircraft types. Both partners studied engineering while in the military and have done numerous military and civilian projects involving proto type development for flight testing and certification. The disciplined and very systematic processes of engineering requires many years of team development and refinement. Over the past eight years we have developed an operational team of 23 engineers and designers who have a combined experience of high-technology product development exceeding 600 years.