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The ambitions of Italy in space, born 60 years ago with San Marco.

Our country boasts a rare longevity in the sector, a history of success, and an ambitious present, despite being part of a Europe trailing behind the United States. The leadership is focused on national interests, both through the record investments of the Pnrr and within the geopolitical context.

BY EMILIO COZZI

Italian space celebrates its sixtieth anniversary, a remarkable milestone. 

It is one of the few countries to boast such longevity, after Russia and the United States.

In Rome, it was 9:24 PM on December 15, 1964, when a US Scout X-4 rocket lifted off from the Wallops base in Virginia to launch the first Italian satellite, San Marco 1, into orbit. The base and the rocket were American, but the control team, including for the launch, was Italian. This debut placed our country on the podium of nations capable of reaching space with an object built and operated independently; Canada and the United Kingdom had already reached space with their own satellites, but entrusted them to the Americans.

Since 2021, December 16th has been celebrated as National Space Day. For this reason, last Monday marked the occasion of the round anniversary.

However, history doesn’t care about records and monuments; extra-atmospheric ambitions are no longer the domain of pioneers, as they were back in ’64.

At the time, the Italian debut was followed by four other launches carried out from the first and, so far, only Italian spaceport. Built in Malindi, off the coast of Kenya, it was the San Marco range, later renamed Luigi Broglio after the general inspector of the Air Force Engineering Corps, a global authority in aerospace and the creator of the project, as well as the “Broglio Balance,” carried by probes to investigate the density and composition of the upper atmosphere layers.

Since then, Italy has never stopped projecting its ambitions beyond the sky, both independently and in cooperation with partners within the European Space Agency (Esa).

When San Marco 5 separated from the platform in the Indian Ocean in 1988, the Esa had already been established, and the Space Shuttle program was in full swing. The first Italian astronaut, Franco Malerba, had been selected by the Italian Space Agency (Asi) and would soon fly aboard the Atlantis shuttle. The United States, Europe, Japan, and Russia were planning the International Space Station (Iss), and Italy was there, as a key player: half of the pressurized volume of the orbiting laboratory, including the spectacular Dome, is the result of engineering and industrial facilities from our country, as well as the cargo capsules that have resupplied and continue to resupply the Iss.

The bilateral relationship with Nasa has allowed our country to take advantage of additional launch opportunities for Italian astronauts. One of the longest, most glorious, and beautiful interplanetary missions (in the purest sense) was Cassini, which remained in orbit around Saturn for two decades, and it was a collaboration between Nasa, Esa, and Asi.

Italy was also onboard Rosetta, a European (and first in the world) mission orbiting a comet, even capable of landing on it.

In almost all of Esa’s most important missions, our science and technology have contributed. We are leaders in satellite construction, solar panels, mechanical engineering, and radio technology. In orbit, Made in Italy stands out in the systems and subsystems of Earth observation satellites, both European and Italian, with few rivals when it comes to synthetic aperture radar (Sar) technology.

Cosmo-SkyMed is a dual-use constellation of radar satellites, for both civilian and military use, which, along with the Copernicus Sentinels, scans the Earth’s surface and provides valuable maps for managing emergencies during natural disasters. The supply chain of small and medium-sized enterprises, highly reliable and growing in international prominence, continues to expand year after year.

So, everything is fine, then? Not exactly.

Italy in Europe

There is still much ambition for the future. It will be crucial for Italy to remain in the space that matters, especially in a geopolitical scenario with precarious balances, an uncertainty driven by the crisis that is destabilizing, among others, Germany and France.

Italy must be seen within a European context that is not free from criticism. These concerns relate to the aspirations of a continent that has exceptional know-how and has achieved great feats, but lacks leadership and governance capable of pushing a sector and its frontiers forward.

Europe does not have its own system for transporting astronauts; their launches are currently entrusted to the United States, and in the past, to Russia.

Moreover, the European context is one where each country makes autonomous decisions, while also collaborating within the framework of the European Space Agency (Esa). Without a leadership figure like the ones in the United States, China, or Russia, it is definitely more complex to “bring down” investments with efficiency and speed. A telling statistic: it is estimated that Europe spends as much as China on space programs, but the stagnation expected for the European Union contrasts with the growing support that Beijing will provide to the sector in the coming years. By 2030, the gap could already be significant.

The lack of demand from defense and institutions should not be underestimated either, as they are the true driving force that enabled the development of companies like SpaceX. Certainly, Europe is not America, and it is unlikely that a company like Elon Musk’s will emerge within the borders of the Old Continent, precisely because the monopoly is opposed by every means. This is also one of the reasons why we turn to SpaceX when things don’t go as hoped. This happened during the “launcher crisis,” and it is happening right now in Italy, where the Meloni government is leaning toward using Starlink to bring broadband to underserved areas.

The “georeturn” mechanism, which obliges member countries’ industries to be awarded contracts based on their investment in European space programs, has been under scrutiny for years. Most recently, Mario Draghi’s report on competitiveness criticized the system, accusing it of limiting development and innovation. A significant defense, not just for duty’s sake, was made by the Esa Director General: “It has created expertise in countries that previously did not have a competitive space industry,” was Josef Aschbacher’s reply, “it has increased European resilience, prevented the emergence of a monopoly, and attracted significant public funding for important space programs.” This serves as a reminder that we are still a “small country” in a “small” European space sector, divided and without the critical mass to compete with the giants.

“Made in Italy” Space

And yet, as mentioned, Italy is present; now with an approach at times more focused on projecting itself as a nation but with the simultaneous need to cooperate on major projects beyond Earth’s orbit.

What the space industry recognizes about our country is its know-how and its world-class industry. This explains, for example, the success of giants like Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio, or the significant growth potential of the subsidiary e-Geos (a partnership between Telespazio and the Italian Space Agency), which holds key contracts in mission management and data processing. Shining examples can also be found among SMEs, which have managed to prove their worth even overseas, where competition is fierce. Four stand out: D-Orbit, with its satellite carriers, orbital “space taxis” delivering small satellites, rumored to be ready for a stock market debut; Argotec, which flew near an asteroid with its LICIACube mission; Officina Stellare, successfully listed for years and always ready to extend its activities worldwide; and Novaeka, an emerging star in the production of test benches for launchers. These four names are just the tip of an iceberg of companies that have been able to capitalize on a revolution: the miniaturization of technologies, the digitization of production processes, and the increase in launch rates.

Regarding the latter, the international context seems to place great confidence in Avio, which has recently returned to compete in the market with the medium-light rocket Vega C, now back in service after the misstep in December 2022. The company’s backlog reports a dozen orders in its portfolio and guarantees independent access to orbit for Italy and Europe (together with the newcomer, Ariane 6). This does not mean the scenario is free of weaknesses, starting with competitiveness, which is still unproven, particularly against U.S. competitors, with SpaceX being just the most well-known name.

Looking to the future begins with the decision, taken by the current government, to strip Arianespace (and therefore the French) of control over the commercialization of Avio’s launches. From now on, the Colleferro-based company will sell its space transport services directly to institutions and private entities. This move aligns with the project to create an Italian space ecosystem, one that is not disconnected but autonomous, for example, from Europe.

Another significant step appears to head in this direction: the training and launch of an astronaut from an Esa member state who flew into orbit without the European Space Agency’s insignia: Walter Villadei. It is very likely that the Air Force colonel was just the first: Italy and other states, including the Usa and France, have established Space Operations Commands or Space Forces. This too marks a significant shift (and one that was hardly unexpected, given that Villadei’s training began ten years ago in Russia, as a cosmonaut).

The Pnrr and Africa

Talking about space in Italy today means talking about the PNRR, but not only that. It is becoming increasingly evident that now is the right time to gain momentum and project beyond the sky. The funds from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan are added to those invested in ESA and national funding, for a record total of 7.2 billion euros in the 2024-2026 triennium. These are the figures cited by the Minister for Enterprises and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso. Included in this are nearly 900 million euros allocated to the Italian Space Agency for implementing space programs and 1.3 billion euros to ESA for the flagship project financed with PNRR: the Iride constellation, micro-satellites for Earth observation equipped with different instruments. These contracts return to Italian companies, such as Thales Alenia Space, Ohb Italia, and Argotec, to name a few.

This will also be an opportunity to give a push to new launcher technologies, with Avio developing liquid-fuel propulsion systems, a first step toward a reusable next-generation stage. Given the unprecedented injection of capital into the sector’s economy, the question remains: Are we inflating a bubble? Will companies be able to stand on their own legs afterward?

That’s not all: the Mattei Plan for Africa, for example, aims to allocate resources to support the continent’s development, in a territory still poorly equipped in terms of orbital technologies. This will happen through agreements with emerging space agencies (including the African Space Agency, headquartered in Cairo) and with individual countries. It goes without saying that bilateral relations will facilitate the introduction of technologies and services into a still largely untapped market, while avoiding the risk of space neocolonialism.

It starts with Kenya, through the revitalization of the Luigi Broglio base as the hub of Italian orbital activities. It was there, in the Horn of Africa, that everything began sixty years ago.



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