Pnrr space, what will the government do?
Pnrr and more, what emerged from the press conference of the president of ASI (Italian Space Agency), Giorgio Saccoccia
There is optimism in the highest rooms of the Italian Space Agency (ASI). President Giorgio Saccoccia, in the press conference held yesterday at the Tor Vergata headquarters, did not conceal his satisfaction for the future of our home space. 2023 will be the year of the contractualization of what has been allocated by the State in recent planning in which the willingness to continue with international collaborations has emerged, which are undoubtedly essential for a country that alone cannot absorb or saturate the research offer and domestic industries. And of course, what was released at the ministerial council in Paris – confirmation of the third contributor to ESA after Germany and France – encourages the expected wait.
ITALY IN THE FOREGROUND OF SOME LUNAR PROJECTS
For some programs of the lunar project, not all the roles among the traditional partners have been defined in their structure, but for the Argonaut lander and the Moonlight communication system, Italy will have a leading role. This is why a very delicate work is underway which will see the balancing of technological assets and the sums allocated, in which Italy and Germany share the highest positions. The uncertainty is understandable since it is a question of defining important interests and with the expectation of high returns. Be they as a contribution to the image of space diplomacy, which – we hope – also of industrial patents.
PNRR INVESTMENTS IN THE SPACE SECTOR
But it is not only the council of ESA member countries that focuses on Italy's positioning in the club of the sector: the country seems to be sensibly understanding the strategy of having a solid basis as regards production and space management activities, determined with consistent support to the three-year plan of ASI. Then there is also the Pnrr which has invested the sector with projects that could substantially strengthen the Italian role in everything concerning the observation and surveillance of our planet. An area in which we are unequivocally world leaders in the radar field.
The EU has divided 723.8 billion euros among the countries of the Union.
THE IRIDE PROJECT: CONSTELLATION OF SATELLITES FOR EARTH OBSERVATION
In the space field, among the most strategic sectors of every industrialized nation, the intervention lines of the Pnrr launched in 2021 called for a multiplier effect in investments, a transversal fulfillment of mission requirements and a substantial cross-fertilization value, a precious transversality of application between research streams with the diversification of different opportunities. As part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan – it is known – an Agreement was stipulated for a value of approximately 1.3 billion euro containing two elements: IRIDE for 1,070 million and approximately 235 million for launchers.
The program includes a constellation of Earth observation satellites that will help monitor climate change, fight hydrogeological instability and fires, protect the country's coasts, keep critical infrastructures, air quality under control and weather conditions and will also provide analytical data for the development of high-tech commercial applications by startups and small and medium-sized enterprises in the sector.
BUILDING AN ECO-SUSTAINABLE ENGINE FOR FUTURE EUROPEAN LAUNCHER
Within the framework of the same Convention – but not part of IRIDE – a project for the construction of an eco-sustainable engine for future European space launchers will also be launched.
The ongoing activity, wanted by the Italian government and led by ESA sees the Italian agency involved in the availability of all the experiences gained in the most important program which is the COSMO SkyMed constellation and also in PRISMA. As far as applications are concerned, the President confirmed that there is a forum of users with which continuous discussion has been established for all the possibilities to be exploited by the new system which will be in orbit from 2026.
OBJECTIVE: TO EXPAND THE USER RANGE
What still needs to be refined is how much the group of users will have to be enlarged since, as mentioned above, an expansion of use is expected also to non-institutional spheres, according to the will of the previous government and here problems no longer arise of a technological nature but more complex administrative and juridical because if there are opportunities but also constraints may arise on the possible sale of data.
After all, IRIDE, as it was conceived, will have a final architecture based on the responses of those who are offering the machines.
WHAT THE MELONI GOVERNMENT DOES ABOUT THE SPACE PNRR
What is worrying today, as Saccoccia admitted, is that there has been no response from the new government. And in the Pnrr everything is regulated and driven by the time parameter.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/pnrr-spaziale-cosa-fara-il-governo/ on Fri, 13 Jan 2023 10:31:57 +0000.