After obtaining a PhD in SAR Remote Sensing from the University of Toulouse (France), Henri Laur joined ESA in 1989. He then occupied several functions in the field of Earth Observation data exploitation, ranging from ERS-1/2 SAR data calibration to SAR applications development.

In 2001, he was appointed as Envisat Mission Manager.

Since 2006 he has been responsible for the ESA Earth Observation Missions Management Office. The Earth Observation mission managers belong to this office, which is in charge of the Earth Observation missions during their exploitation phase (ERS, Envisat, Earth Explorers, and Third Party Missions).