From ESA to ASI to Washington. The risk of space appointments for the Conte government
All the appointments in the space sector that are shaking the Conte government
Space appointments in Italy are a real risk. In fact, this year there are three assignments in the space sector that have yet to be assigned. From the coveted position of next director general of the European Space Agency (ESA) to that of space attaché in Washington to the new director general of the Italian Space Agency (ASI).
Here are all the appointments that seem to be shaking the Conte executive.
THE ESA GUIDE
Let's start with the appointment to ESA, the intergovernmental organization that has 22 member states and 12 and a half billion euros allocated as a budget for the next three years, in view of crucial missions to the Moon and Mars. Without forgetting that Italy, with a higher contribution than ever to the ESA budget of the order of two billion and two hundred million, is behind only Germany and France as a contributor to the agency.
The appointment of the new director general is scheduled for December 2020. The Italian candidate has been chosen to lead the European Space Agency (ESA). This is the astrophysicist Simonetta Di Pippo, director of Unoosa (the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs) supported by Palazzo Chigi . ( Here the in-depth analysis by Start on the other candidates for the ESA General Management ).
His name had entered the list of candidates since last June, when the ESA had published the call to find the successor of the current director general, the German Jan Worner, who will end his mandate at the end of June 2021.
After months of hypotheses and toto-names, at the beginning of October it was a tweet from Manlio Di Stefano , Grillino Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs with responsibility for space, to discover the cards with which Italy intends to play the game on the European table by announcing the endorsement executive for Di Pippo.
TWO ITALIAN CANDIDATES
But Roberto Battiston, former president of the Italian Space Agency (ASI), sent his own from Italy as well as Simonetta Di Pippo. And this is where the issue gets complicated. As Repubblica wrote, Battiston "in spite of the indications of the government, nevertheless presented his candidacy by raising a small case of" Italy "within the European institution".
Just to refresh his memory, two years ago Roberto Battiston had challenged the decree of 31 October 2018, with which the then Minister of Education of the M5s-Lega government had ordered the revocation, with immediate effect, of the office of president of the 'Asi. Battiston had accused the decision to revoke his presidency from the ASI by the Northern League minister Bussetti as an act of "spoil system". However, in May 2019 the Lazio TAR rejected the appeal presented by the 'dismissed' president of ASI. Let's go back to the present day.
According to Repubblica , Simonetta Di Pippo's “is an iron candidacy that risks being put in crisis precisely by the presence of a second Italian in the running for the position of general manager. Despite the prestige of Roberto Battiston himself, an expert in cosmic rays and well known in the international community, his presence in the short list could favor an alternative solution to the [official] Italian one in the choice of states ”.
To silence the rumors of a penalisation of our country within the ESA due to the two candidacies, Di Stefano himself thought of it who, again via tweet, replied that the "Italian government has only one candidacy for DG ESA, Simonetta Di Pippo, and only that will support ”.
Incredible is only the approximation of @republic . The Italian government has only one candidacy for DG ESA, Simonetta Di Pippo, and only that will support. The others are spontaneous as per ESA regulation (there were hundreds of candidates in fact). Study before speaking thanks. pic.twitter.com/fpVnA8boUR
– Manlio Di Stefano (@ManlioDS) October 13, 2020
THE WASHINGTON SPACE ATTACHÉ
From the position in Paris at the helm of the European Space Agency we now pass to that of “Space Officer” across the Atlantic. In general, for the post of space attaché in Washington, ASI, in agreement with Maeci, is in charge of the ban . In the last 8 years it has been the Am general and ESA astronaut Roberto Vittori to fill this role. When Vittori was assigned, the selection was handled by the ASI. The assignment has a duration of 2 years, extendable to a maximum of 8. And here is that in January 2020 Vittori ends the assignment. An insider tells us who asked for anonymity "as usual, the ASI was proceeding with the publication of the announcement but the presidency of the Council of Ministers actually who in the secretariat of Undersecretary Fraccaro deals with space has identified a profile very clear and only afterwards did Maeci intervene with a profile already decided, entrusting the task to Maeci. "
Also for the space officer in Brussels, ASI also dealt with the tender less than a year ago.
This time it was Maeci who took care of the announcement. The selections began in September, the interviews with the 10 candidates took place last September 15 at the Maeci.
WHO ARE THE CANDIDATES
The latter include: Mario Cosmo, on staff at DG ASI and senior expert of the Sherpa office in the office of the Prime Minister Benassi diplomatic advisor from 2 July 2020 to 31 December 2021; Fabio D'Amico, ASI program manager of the Agile mission; Simone Dell'Agnello Executive Technologist at Infn-Lnf; Paolo Gaudenzi, director of the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department of the University of Rome La Sapienza; Riccardo Lanari, director of the Cnr Irea; Gabriele Mascetti, Head of the Asi Microgravity and Human Flight Unit; Mauro Piermaria, Head of the Organizational Support Unit and Associates of Asi; Alessandro Rossi, Nello Carrara Institute of Applied Physics, CNR, Florence; Alessandro Dario Maria Gobbi and Aniello Violetti, colonel currently on the staff of the PdCM military adviser office as head of space and aerospace policy.
VIOLETTI THE FAVORITE?
It seems that the latter is Palazzo Chigi's favorite as the new space attendant in the United States. According to the report by Alessandro Da Rold in the newspaper La Verità , "the dossier was taken up by Mariangela Dejana […] who, from former secretary of Aipas (the association for companies in space activities), became the point of reference for Riccardo Fraccaro [M5S undersecretary to the presidency of the Council with responsibility for space] who hired her for a year ”. Da Rold writes that "there is his hand behind Di Pippo's candidacy in ESA, as there was his paw behind the blitz that the prime minister himself had organized in March to appoint Aniello Violetti".
Colonel Violetti, deputy to Carlo Massagli, President Conte's military adviser, “should have become the new employee stationed in Washington by spring. But Luigi Di Maio's Farnesina blocked everything. And it has launched a tender ”. And here we go back to the aforementioned call, the result of which is expected shortly. According to La Verità, “the game saw a split within the executive, on the one hand the presidency of the Council, on the other the Farnesina di Di Maio and Italian diplomacy”.
THE REVOKED CALL FOR DG ASI
Finally, the latest appointment at stake this year is the one at the helm of the Italian space agency. A source told Start that “ASI launched a tender for general management at the beginning of the year. After the deadline for sending applications, nothing is known yet. There is a triad of candidates. But the position of new CEO has not been assigned to anyone. Indeed, the ban was "mysteriously" revoked ". General director of ASI from 15 May 2015 to 2019 was Anna Sirica. At the moment Fabrizio Tosone has been appointed Regent General Manager with Resolution no. 67 of 03/24/2020 and Presidential Decree n. 11 of 30 March 2020.
Why was the call for the general manager of ASI revoked? Could it have been put on stand-by pending the assignment of the other two pending positions? In fact, a legitimate question arises: is there an overview in the Space sector? Or do you navigate on sight in an uncoordinated way?
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/dallesa-allasi-fino-a-washington-il-risiko-delle-nomine-dello-spazio-per-il-governo-conte/ on Mon, 26 Oct 2020 05:50:17 +0000.