TheItalian Space Agency (Italian:Agenzia Spaziale Italiana;ASI) is a government agency established in 1988 to fund, regulate and coordinatespace exploration activities in Italy.[1][4] The agency cooperates with numerous national and international entities who are active in aerospace research and technology.[4]
Nationally, ASI is responsible for both drafting the National Aerospace Plan and ensuring it is carried out. To do this the agency operates as the owner/coordinator of a number of Italian space research agencies and assets such asCIRA as well as organising the calls and opportunities process for Italian industrial contractors on spaceflight projects. Internationally, the ASI provides Italy's delegation to the Council of theEuropean Space Agency and to its subordinate bodies as well as representing the country's interests in foreign collaborations.
ASI's main headquarters are located inRome, Italy,[5] and the agency also has direct control over two operational centres: theCentre for Space Geodesy (CGS) located inMatera in Italy, and its own spaceport, theBroglio Space Centre (formerly theSan Marco Equatorial Range) on the coastal sublittoral ofKenya, currently used only as a communications ground station.[6] One further balloon launch base located inTrapani was permanently closed in 2010.[7] In 2020, ASI's annual revenues budget was approximately €2.0 billion[3][8] and it directly employed around 200 workers.[4]
San Marco 1 (top), Italy's first artificial satellite, at checkout on Wallops Island
Activities started officially in 1988 but the agency drew extensively on the work of earlier national organisations as well as the consolidated experience of the many Italian scientists that had been investigating space and astronautics since the end of the 19th century. Some of the most outstanding names in Italian space exploration since its inception were the following:
Giulio Costanzi (1875–1965), his 1914 writing of space navigation is considered the first Italian contribution to astronautics.
Luigi Gussalli (1885–1950), astronautics pioneer since the 1920s, corresponded with international space scientists such asOberth andGoddard. He invented a double-reaction jet engine, developed multi-stage rockets, suggested a Moon mission and solar radiation powered spaceships.
Gaetano Arturo Crocco (1877-1968), aeronautics and astronautics pioneer, invented the first all-Italian liquid-fuelled combustion chamber and aided in the development of thegravity assist technique for use on planetary fly-by's by space probes.[9]
Luigi Crocco (1909-1986), son of Gaetano Arturo, an internationally renowned scientist in aerodynamics theory and jet propulsion.[9]
Aurelio Robotti (1913–1994), expert on rocket liquid fuels, father of the first Italian liquid-fuelled rocket, AR3.[9]
Luigi Broglio (1911-2001), the unanimously recognized father of Italian astronautics, sometimes referred to as the "Italianvon Braun".[10] Under his guidance Italy built and operated a satellite in orbit around the Earth and became the first country to deploy an equatorial launching pad, the San Marco, and to experiment successful launching from it.[11]
Carlo Buongiorno (1930–2011), Broglio's pupil and the first director general of ASI.
Early Italian space efforts during theSpace Race era were built around cooperation between the Italian Space Commission (a branch of theNational Research Council) and NASA supported primarily by the Centro Ricerche Aerospaziali, the aerospace research group of theUniversity of Rome La Sapienza. This plan, conceived by Luigi Broglio, led to theSan Marco programme of Italian-built satellites beginning with the launch of Italy's first satellite,San Marco 1, fromWallops Island.[6]
The San Marco project since 1967 was focused on the launching of scientific satellites byScout rockets from amobile rigid platform located close to the equator. This station, composed of 3 oil platforms and two logistical support boats, was installed off theKenya coast, close to the town ofMalindi.
Italy would later launch further satellites in the series (San Marco 2 in 1967, San Marco 3 in 1971, San Marco 4 in 1974 and San Marco D/L in 1988 ) using the AmericanScout rockets like the original, but from its own spaceport.[12]
Further work would continue under the direction of the National Research Council including the launch of an indigenoustelecoms/research satellite calledSIRIO-1 in 1977.[13] A planned follow-up missionSIRIO-2 was destroyed in theAriane 1 L-05 launch failure.[12] During the 1980s, it became clear of the need to rationalise and strengthen Italy's position in space research and so the decision was made to create the Italian Space Agency to further coordinate the nation's space activities.
TSS-1, a tethered satellite, being deployed on STS-46
ASI's first large scientific satellite mission wasBeppoSAX, developed in collaboration with the Netherlands and launched in 1996. Named afterGiuseppe “Beppo” Occhialini, an important figure in Italian high-energy physics, the satellite was a mission to study the universe in theX-ray part of the spectrum.
Following on from this ASI developed another high-energy astronomical satellite,AGILE for gamma ray astronomy, launched by theIndian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 2007. A particular innovation was the use of a single instrument to measure both Gamma rays and hard X-rays.
ASI also has collaborated on many major international space exploration missions including;
Cassini-Huygens, a joint NASA/ESA/ASI mission to the Saturn system launched in 1997. The mission has made many new discoveries and increased understanding of the gas giant's environment, particularly Saturn's varied moons. ASI supplied Cassini's large high-gain antenna and radar package as well as involvement in other instruments.
Mars Express, the first Western European mission to Mars launched in 2003. Through ASI, Italy provided two important instruments for the mission;MARSIS a radar altimeter and thePlanetary Fourier Spectrometer which discovered concentrations of methane in the Martian atmosphere.
Rosetta, an ambitious ESA mission to orbit and for the first time in history land a probe on a comet,67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, to study it in detail as it enters the inner solar system. This long duration mission was launched in 2004 and arrived at its destination in 2014. Rosetta carries the Italian-built VIRTIS instrument while thePhilae Lander's sampling/drilling system, SD2, is another major Italian contribution.
Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Mission, a NASA-led international mission to provide rapid detection of short-lived Gamma-ray Bursts. ASI provides the use of the ground station facility as the San Marco spaceport.
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, a NASA mission to Mars launched in 2005. TheSHARAD radar was supplied by Italy using experience from MARSIS.
Venus Express, the sister-probe to Mars Express built using the same spacecraft bus and the first Western European mission to Venus. Launched in 2005, ASI contributed a version of VIRTIS spectrometer.
Dawn, a 2007 NASA mission that will study the largest of theAsteroid Belt's objects, the asteroidVesta and the dwarf planetCeres. Italy has provided VIR-MS, another evolution of the VIRTIS instrument.
Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), a NASA mission to test planetary defense by crashing toward an asteroid, small spacecraft calledLICIACube created by ASI will observe the result. LICIACube is the first autonomous spacecraft developed by Italian team in deep space.
Italy's space industry has also been involved in many other scientific missions such asSOHO,Cluster II,ISO,XMM-Newton andPlanck. The technology experimentsTSS-1 andTSS-1R were also conducted in partnership with NASA.
Currently ASI is a partner in theAriane 5 launcher programme and more recently is the major (65%) backer of the ESAVega small launcher, capable of putting a payload of 1500 kg tolow Earth orbit.
ASI is a participant in many of ESA's programmes in the field of Earth Observation such asERS-1,ERS-2,ENVISAT, theMeteosat series and theGalileo satellite navigation system. The agency has also collaborated with other European and international partners such as theShuttle Radar Topography Mission with NASA.
In October 1992, NASA launchedLAGEOS-2 (following LAGEOS-1 launched in 1976) in cooperation with ASI. A passive satellite, it is an aluminum plated brass sphere covered with retroreflectors to reflectlaser ranging beams emitted from ground stations on Earth. The primary mission goals were to determine accurately Earth'sGeoid and to measureTectonic plate movement. In 2012 ASI's own satelliteLARES (LARES 1) was launched using the Vega rocket. The mission carries out similar studies to that of LAGEOS 2 but with much greater precision. Another similar satellite,LARES 2 was launched in 2022.
The Italian Space Agency, under direction of both the Ministry of Research and theMinistry of Defence, developed theCOSMO-SkyMed constellation of satellites for both military and civilian use in a broad range of areas.[14]
The Italian Space Agency launched in 2019 the multimission program PLATiNO (mini Piattaforma spaziaLe ad Alta TecNOlogia, High-Technology Mini-Satellite Platform), to develop industrial capability in the small satellites sector. The first mission in 2023 will embark a SAR, the second one in 2024 a Thermal Infrared Imager.
A number of ISS modules have also been made in Italy. As part ofESA's contribution to the costs of the International Space Station, Alcatel Alenia Space manufacturedTranquility,Harmony as well as theCupola observation deck for NASA.
ESA'sColumbus module, Western Europe's primary scientific lab on board theISS, was again built in Turin based on Italy's previous experience in space station module construction.
As an ESA member heavily involved in human spaceflight, ASI sponsors a select few Italian citizens to train at ESA'sEuropean Astronaut Corps (EAC) to represent the country on missions. Italians to have flown in space are:
Franco Malerba, Italy's first astronaut and the only one not to fly as a member of the EAC. He flew onSTS-46 (31 July to 7 August 1992) as payload specialist on the firstTethered Satellite System mission.
Umberto Guidoni, flew onSTS-75 (22 February to 9 March 1996) as payload specialist on the second Tethered Satellite System mission -TSS-1R. He became the first Italian and European on theInternational Space Station duringSTS-100 (19 April to 1 May 2001).
Paolo A. Nespoli, flew onSTS-120 (23 October to 7 November 2007),[15] he then returned two more times on the ISS: one for the long duration MagISStra mission (Expedition 26/27, from 15 December 2010, to 23 May 2011) aboard theSoyuz TMA-20 and the other for the Vita mission (Expedition 52/53)
Luca Parmitano, selected in February 2009, flew aboardSoyuz TMA-09M on 28 May 2013, arriving at theInternational Space Station the following day. He returned to Earth on 11 November 2013. He returned to the ISS on board theSoyuz MS-13 mission from 20 July 2019 to 6 February 2020. During this time he served as Flight Engineer onExpedition 60 and Commander onExpedition 61.
Samantha Cristoforetti, also selected in 2009, flew to theInternational Space Station aboardSoyuz TMA-15M on 23 November 2014. Her original return date was delayed by one month after the failure of two Russian rockets extended her stay in space past the European astronaut and female astronaut endurance records. Her return to Earth, on 11 June 2015, concluded her 199d 16h 42m in space. She was on the ISS withExpedition 67 from 27 April 2022 as a part ofSpaceX Crew-4 mission and took command of ISSExpedition 68 from 28 September 2022 to 14 October 2022, when she returned to Earth aboardCrew Dragon Endurance.
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Filippo Graziani, La Scuola di Scuola Ingegneria Aerospaziale nell’ottantesimo anniversario della sua fondazione
Gaetano Arturo Crocco, Giro esplorativo di un anno Terra-Marte-Venere-Terra, Rendiconti del VII Congresso Internazionale Astronauticao, Roma, settembre 1956, pagg. 201–225;
English translation: "One-Year Exploration-Trip Earth-Mars-Venus-Earth, " Gaetano A. Crocco, paper presented at the Seventh Congress of the International Astronautical Federation, Rome, Italy, Rendiconti pp. 227-252.
Giorgio Di Bernardo, Nella nebbia in attesa del Sole, Di Renzo Editore
AA. VV:, Le attività spaziali italiane dal dopoguerra all’istituzione dell’Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Agenzia Spaziale Europea
Aurelio Robotti, 1941–1961, venti anni di storia missilistica in Italia, "Missili" Edizioni Italiane, 1962
Giovanni Caprara, L’Italia nello spazio, Valerio Levi Editore, 1992
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