The
Italian Space Agency was founded in 1988 to promote, coordinate, and conduct
spaceOuter space comprises the relatively empty regions of the universe outside the atmospheres of celestial bodies. Outer space is used to distinguish it from airspace and terrestrial locations....
activities in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
. Operating under the Ministry of the Universities and Scientific and Technological Research, the Agency cooperates with numerous international and Italian entities, who are active in space technology, and with the Italian President of the Council of Ministers. Internationally, the ASI provides Italy's delegation to the Council of the
European Space Agency|owner = |headquarters = Paris|spaceport = Guiana Space Centre|image = ESA LOGO.svg|size = 240px|acronym = ESA|established = 1975|administrator = Jean-Jacques Dordain...
and to its subordinate bodies.
The
Italian Space Agency was founded in 1988 to promote, coordinate, and conduct
spaceOuter space comprises the relatively empty regions of the universe outside the atmospheres of celestial bodies. Outer space is used to distinguish it from airspace and terrestrial locations....
activities in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
. Operating under the Ministry of the Universities and Scientific and Technological Research, the Agency cooperates with numerous international and Italian entities, who are active in space technology, and with the Italian President of the Council of Ministers. Internationally, the ASI provides Italy's delegation to the Council of the
European Space Agency|owner = |headquarters = Paris|spaceport = Guiana Space Centre|image = ESA LOGO.svg|size = 240px|acronym = ESA|established = 1975|administrator = Jean-Jacques Dordain...
and to its subordinate bodies. ASI's main headquarters are located in
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
,
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
. The agency also has two operational centers, located in Matera and
TrapaniTrapani is a city on the west coast of Sicily in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an important fishing port and the main gateway to the nearby Egadi Islands.- History :...
(both in Italy), and a spaceport, the
San Marco platformThe San Marco Platform is a spaceport platform on an old oil platform near Kenya, developed in the 1960s through a partnership between the Centro Ricerche Aerospaziali at the University of Rome La Sapienza and NASA to serve as a launch pad for Italian spacecraft...
, on the coastal sublittoral of Kenya. The ASI's annual budget is $978 million.
Political space activities in Italy before ASI
Activities started officially on 1988 But the Agency drew extensively on the consolidated experience of the many Italian scientists that had been investigating space and astronautics since the end of the 19th century. The most outstanding names in the Italian space science since its inception are the following:
Giulio CostanziGiulio Costanzi , Officer of the ITAF Engineers Corps, is considered a pioneer of space studies in Italy. In 1914 he wrote a paper on space navigation and nuclear propulsion that is regarded as the first Italian contribution to space flights on record.- Biography :Costanzi started his career as a...
, his 1914 writing of space navigation and nuclear propulsion are considered the first Italian contribution to astronautics.
Luigi GussalliLuigi Gussalli , engineer and inventor, was a pioneer of motor cars. He turned to astronautics in the 20’s, corresponding with world leaders in this field, such as Oberth and Goddard and exchanging with them theories on interplanetary flight and its prospects...
, astronautics pioneer since the 20’s, corresponded with international space scientists such ad Oberth and Goddard. He invented a double-reaction jet engine, developed multi-stage rockets, suggested a Moon mission and solar radiations powered spaceships.
Gaetano Arturo CroccoGaetano Arturo Crocco was an Italian scientist and aeronautics pioneer, the founder of the Italian Rocket Society, and went on to become Italy's leading space scientist. He was born in Naples....
, aeronautics and astronautics pioneer, invented the first all-Italian liquid-fuelled combustion chamber and developed the gravitational slingshot theory to increase spaceship speed without fuel consumption.
Luigi Crocco, son to Gaetano Arturo, an internationally renown scientist in aerodynamics theory and jet propulsion.
Aurelio RobottiAurelio Robotti, an Air Engineers Corps CO and later professor at the , is another of the handful of space pioneers in Italy, particularly in the field of liquid propellants that he started investigating at the end of the 40's. While serving in the AE Corps, he began research into rockets and...
, expert on rocket liquid fuels, father of the first Italian liquid-fuelled rocket, AR3. Luigi Broglio, the unanimously recognized father of Italian astronautics. Under his guide Italy became the third country in the world to put a satellite into orbit around the Earth and the first country to deploy an equatorial launching pad and to experiment successful launching from it. Carlo Bongiorno, Broglio’s pupil and the first Director of the Italian Space Agency (ASI)
Products
- Various experiment (TSS-1, LAGEOS II
LAGEOS, or Laser Geodynamics Satellites, are a series of scientific research satellites designed to provide an orbiting laser ranging benchmark for geodynamical studies of the Earth.-Function and operation:...
, SAR X, TSS-1R, UV-STAR, SRTMThe Shuttle Radar Topography Mission is an international research effort that obtained digital elevation models on a near-global scale from 56 °S to 60 °N, to generate the most complete high-resolution digital topographic database of Earth to date...
...) in collaboration with NASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program. NASA was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29, 1958, replacing its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for...
.
- BeppoSAX
BeppoSAX was an Italian-Dutch satellite for X-ray astronomy. The satellite structure and control was built by various Italian and Dutch companies, while most of the scientific instruments were developed by the Italian CNR science research institute...
, a satelliteIn the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavor. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
for X-rayX-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 10 to 0.01 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays...
astronomy.
- Cassini–Huygens in collaboration with NASA and European Space Agency
|owner = |headquarters = Paris|spaceport = Guiana Space Centre|image = ESA LOGO.svg|size = 240px|acronym = ESA|established = 1975|administrator = Jean-Jacques Dordain...
.
- Sicral 1/1B/2, military communication satellites.
- Mars Express
Mars Express is a space exploration mission being conducted by the European Space Agency . The Mars Express mission is exploring the planet Mars, and is the first planetary mission attempted by the agency. "Express" originally referred to the speed and efficiency with which the spacecraft was...
in collaboration with ESA.
- Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Mission
The Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Mission consists of a robotic spacecraft called Swift, which was launched into orbit on 20 November 2004, 17:16:00 UTC on the Delta II 7320-10C series expendable launch vehicle...
in collaboration with NASA.
- Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is a multipurpose spacecraft designed to conduct reconnaissance and exploration of Mars from orbit....
in collaboration with NASA
- AGILE
AGILE is an X-ray and Gamma ray astronomical satellite of the Italian Space Agency . The design, development and fabrication of the satellite was led by Carlo Gavazzi Space, Milan, Italy, in association with several industrial and research institutions....
, a satellite for X-ray and Gamma rayGamma rays are electromagnetic radiation of high frequency . They are produced by sub-atomic particle interactions, such as electron-positron annihilation, neutral pion decay, radioactive decay, fusion, fission or inverse Compton scattering in astrophysical processes...
astronomy.
- COSMO-SkyMed
COSMO-SkyMed is an Earth observation satellite system funded by the Italian Ministry of Research and Ministry of Defence and...
, a satellite constellation for dual purpose SARSynthetic-aperture radar is a form of radar in which multiple radar images are processed to yield higher resolution images than would be possible by conventional means...
Earth observationEarth observation satellites are satellites specifically designed to observe Earth from orbit, similar toreconnaissance satellites but intended for non-military uses such as environmental monitoring, meteorology, map making etc. Geostationary satellites hover over the same spot, providing...
.
- Vega
Vega is an expendable launch system being developed for Arianespace jointly by the Italian Space Agency and the European Space Agency. Development began in 1998 and the first launch, which will take place from the Guiana Space Centre, is planned for 2010...
, a planned expendable launch systemAn expendable launch system is a launch system that uses an expendable launch vehicle to carry a payload into space. The vehicles used in expendable launch systems are designed to be used only once , and their components are not recovered after launch...
developed jointly by the ASI and the ESA.
- Harmony, Columbus
Columbus is a science laboratory that is part of the International Space Station and is the largest single contribution to the ISS made by the European Space Agency ....
, Tranquility, the CupolaThe Cupola is an ESA-built observatory module of the International Space Station . Once installed, it will provide ISS crew members with a direct view of robotic operations and docked spacecraft, as well as an observation point for watching the Earth...
and all MPLMsA Multi-Purpose Logistics Module is a large pressurized container used on Space Shuttle missions to transfer cargo to and from the International Space Station . An MPLM is carried in the cargo bay of a Shuttle and berthed to the Unity or Harmony module on the ISS. From there, supplies are...
have been built for NASA in TurinTurin is a major city as well as a business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River surrounded by the Alpine arch...
, ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
by the company that is now Thales Alenia SpaceThales Alenia Space is the company born after Thales had bought the participation of Alcatel in the two joint-ventures between Alcatel and Finmeccanica, Alcatel Alenia Space and Telespazio.-History:...
.
Plus some direct involving in ESA projects like
Galileo positioning systemGalileo is a global navigation satellite system currently being built by the European Union and European Space Agency . The €3.4 billion project is an alternative and complementary to the U.S. Global Positioning System and the Russian GLONASS...
,
ERS-1/2European remote sensing satellite was the European Space Agency's first Earth-observing satellite. It was launched on July 17, 1991 into a Sun synchronous polar orbit at a height of 782–785 km.-Instruments:...
,
EnvisatEnvisat is an Earth-observing satellite built by the European Space Agency. It was launched on the 1st March 2002 aboard an Ariane 5 into a Sun synchronous polar orbit at a height of 790 km . It orbits the Earth in about 101 minutes with a repeat cycle of 35 days...
,
MeteosatThe Meteosat series of satellites are geostationary meteorological satellites operated by EUMETSAT under the Meteosat Transition Programme ....
, EOPP,
SOHOThe Solar and Heliospheric Observatory is a spacecraft that was launched on a Lockheed Martin Atlas IIAS launch vehicle on December 2, 1995 to study the Sun, and began normal operations in May 1996. It is a joint project of international cooperation between the European Space Agency and NASA...
,
Cluster IIThe Cluster mission is a European Space Agency unmanned space mission to study the Earth's magnetosphere using four identical spacecraft flying in a tetrahedral formation. The first four Cluster spacecraft were lost in the Ariane 5 flight failure on 1996 June 4, leading to the construction of four...
,
ISOThe Infrared Space Observatory was a space telescope for infrared light designed and operated by the European Space Agency , in cooperation with ISAS and NASA...
,
XMM-NewtonThe XMM-Newton is an orbiting X-ray observatory, named in honor of Sir Isaac Newton.Originally known as the High Throughput X-ray Spectroscopy Mission, it was launched by the European Space Agency from the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou on 10 December 1999 by an Ariane 5 rocket...
,
INTEGRALThe European Space Agency's INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory is an operational Earth satellite, launched in 2002 for detecting some of the most energetic radiation that comes from space. It is the most sensitive gamma ray observatory ever launched.INTEGRAL is an ESA mission in...
,
RosettaRosetta is a European Space Agency-led robotic spacecraft mission launched in 2004, intended to study the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Rosetta consists of two main elements: the Rosetta space probe and the Philae lander...
,
Planck SurveyorPlanck is a space observatory designed to observe the anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background over the entire sky, using high sensitivity and angular resolution. Planck was built in the Cannes Mandelieu Space Center by Thales Alenia Space and created as the third Medium-Sized Mission of...
and
Mars ExpressMars Express is a space exploration mission being conducted by the European Space Agency . The Mars Express mission is exploring the planet Mars, and is the first planetary mission attempted by the agency. "Express" originally referred to the speed and efficiency with which the spacecraft was...
.