Argotec’s Spaceship Takes Off

The Turin-based company inaugurated its facility inside the former Cartiera Burgo in San Mauro
Torinese: €25 million investment and 100 new jobs. A futuristic architecture where the philosophy
of David Avino’s business thrives: microsatellites and all-in-house production. Iride will be the first
major leap.

BY EMILIO COZZI

There couldn’t have been a better time for the launch of Argotec’s spaceship, i.e., the inauguration
of the SpacePark of the Turin-based company, and simultaneously, a celebration of the company
itself, one of the national space ventures making a significant mark globally, especially across the
Atlantic.
It’s no coincidence that the ribbon was cut by the Minister Adolfo Urso along with Simonetta
Cheli, Director of Earth Observation Programs at the European Space Agency, Teodoro Valente,
President of the Italian Space Agency, and Alberto Cirio, President of the Piedmont Region.
Astronauts Paolo Nespoli and Luca Parmitano were also present.
There couldn’t have been a better time because the event took place on Friday, October 18, the
last day of the most important decade for space in 2024. The period started with the launch of the
European Hera mission, aimed at the asteroid system, which two years ago was hit by NASA’s
Dart probe. At that time, Liciacube, built by Argotec, was an eyewitness to the impact.
Just before, on October 14, Europa Clipper, a U.S. mission headed towards one of Jupiter’s
moons, had launched, while in Milan, the first day of the International Astronautical Congress was
concluding, bringing the world’s space excellence to Italy.
October 18 was also the last day of World Space Week. Just 48 hours before, at the Allianz MiCo
Convention Center in Milan, Argotec and Thales Alenia Space had signed an extension of the
contracts with ESA for Iride, the Italian constellation of mini Earth observation satellites. It was the
celebration of an achievement ready to open new challenges, in a headquarters that itself evokes
the future.

A Futuristic Headquarters

Among its many merits, Avino and his team deserve recognition for creating a low-impact project,
a redevelopment (and transformation) of a recognized masterpiece of contemporary architecture
designed by Pritzker Prize winner Oscar Niemeyer. Indeed, the former Cartiera Burgo in San
Mauro Torinese is like a spaceship, a now-decaying relic resembling an intergalactic vessel, long
abandoned and in need of entrepreneurial ambition capable of making it take off again. Instead of
building from scratch, Argotec moved into the existing space, avoiding unnecessary concrete
pouring. The result, according to the company, spared 6,000 square meters of land and saved
5,500 cubic meters of concrete.
Within the futuristic volumes of this flying saucer, there are three control centers to operate
satellites already in orbit, a 1,000-square-meter clean room (where devices are and will be worked
on and assembled), and a 1,200-square-meter hub for startups and space companies. Here, the
satellites of the Iride constellation, which now number 25 thanks to the contract signed two days
before the inauguration, will take shape. Once fully operational, Argotec estimates that 50
satellites will be produced per year—about one per week—with production times reduced by
32%.
Equally important, the SpacePark represents a €25 million investment, equivalent to Argotec’s
annual budget (which in 2023 doubled compared to 2022), and a hiring plan for 100 new
employees. In the old headquarters, a charming industrial building, there simply wouldn’t have
been room for them.

All In-House

Changing the subject, it’s hard to resist comparing this to SpaceX, another entrepreneurial reality
that exploded across the Atlantic but with a similar philosophy: all in-house production. Design,
production, assembly, and control are all managed in the spaceship in San Mauro Torinese, as is
the entire life of a satellite, from design to tests and orbital operations. Every step is aimed at
reducing costs and time.
Elon Musk’s company has been working this way since day one, making the approach integral to
its roaring success, with growth detached from the usual logic of contracts, subcontracts, and
contractors.
Looking at the archetypes, both Argotec and SpaceX have seized a market that was previously
non-existent: across the ocean, by leveraging economies of scale and low-cost, fast-paced
launch services; in Turin, by focusing attention and resources on small and microsatellites
(between 10 and 100 kilos), whose market exploded almost simultaneously with Argotec’s rise. In
other words, from the premises of a suggestive former factory on the outskirts of Turin, Avino and
his team caught the rising wave and rode it all the way to even winning over NASA.
As mentioned before, Liciacube was the cubesat (based on a 6U platform) selected by NASA to
accompany Dart on its mission to hit the small asteroid Dimorphos, with the goal of altering its
orbit. The role of Liciacube was to document the effects of the impact, a task that the satellite,
built in Argotec’s facilities, carried out successfully. Argomoon, another probe similar to Liciacube,
carried out a similar mission during Artemis I: its goal was to photograph the separation phase of
the Orion capsule from the upper stage of the Space Launch System and then venture towards
the Moon.

All-In-Satellite Image Processing

Now, from the Hawk platform, the scalable and modular platform used by Liciacube, Heo (Hawk
for Earth Observation) has been born. This evolution features satellites weighing around 70 kilos,
developed for Iride and equipped with sensors for Earth observation. Not only that, but they are
also equipped with a “brain”: artificial intelligence software processes images in orbit, immediately
after acquisition and before sending them back, saving time and computational power during
ground processing. This too is all in-house.
It would be wrong not to acknowledge the merit of the Italian system, among the first to believe in
the small satellite market and to invest PNRR funds in a national interest project, with dozens of
probes (partly built by Thales Alenia Space) that will map territories, coasts, and the environment
with various sensors, from radar to infrared to visible light. Trust and resources seem well placed,
ready to foster cutting-edge technologies and position themselves where others have yet to take
place.
Now the challenge will be to make the most of the investment, create market value, and go even
further. From Turin, a spaceship has already taken off