Space Activities Report 2005 Italy

7/31/2019 Space Activities Report 2005 Italy

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AGENZIA SPAZIALE ITALIANA Via di Villa Grazioli, 23 - 00198 - Rome – Italy

http://www.asi.it

Organizations’ names or companies’ names are used in this report for

identification only. This usage does not constitute an official endorsement,

either expressed or implied, by the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana



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The Italian Space Agency (ASI), in charge of the promotion, development and spread of the scientific and technological research, by elaborating the space activities strategy, in the year 2005,

has been engaged to implement the following “application oriented” guidelines of the National

Space Plan 2003-2005, in accordance with the National Research Plan (PRN):

- Development of public utility services- Development of space infrastructures and instrumental technological products- Strengthening and enhancement of Italian space scientific knowledge- Development of bilateral and multilateral international cooperation- Promotion of complementary policies, among which the development of technological transfer

opportunities and growth of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

The ASI total budget for the fiscal year 2005 has been around 700 M€, out of which around 50%has been dedicated to the ESA programmes and the rest of the budget to national, bilateral and

international programmes and projects. In particular, the activities and the programmes, aimed at improving the quality of life, the

industrial competitiveness and supporting the global sustainable development, have been organized

in the National Space Plan in the following sectors:

- Earth Observation- Observation of the Universe

- Telecommunication and Navigation- Manned Space-flight - Medicine and Biotechnology- Space Transport - Education

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COSMO-SkyMed, a dual-use Earth observation satellite system, being developed by ASI in

cooperation with the Italian Ministry of Defence, within the framework of a bilateral

Intergovernmental Agreement between Italy and France, will make use of the most advanced

remote sensing technology for the four X-band SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellites,

providing high imaging resolutions that will be processed by a complex and geographically

distributed Ground Segment infrastructure, manufactured by Italian industries. The first satellite

will be launched by the end of 2006.

The COSMO-SkyMed Earth Observation programme will provide, inter alias, an important

contribution to the natural disaster management system, by monitoring, controlling and managing

natural disaster risks, among which forest fires, floods, landslides and oil spills.



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An important cooperative effort devoted to the management of the natural disasters and

emergencies is the bilateral cooperation between Italy and Argentina within the joint programme,

named “Italy and Argentina Satellite System for Emergency Management” (SIASGE). The system

will use the Italian COSMO-SkyMed constellation and the Argentinean planned constellation of

two SAOCOM L-band SAR spacecraft.

In the framework of the natural disasters, research and development preliminary studies have been

implemented for the following applications: seismic hazard and Volcanic Risk; marine pollution, in

the context of DISMAR (Data Integration System for marine Pollution) international project; fires,

landslides and floods prevention, in collaboration with the Civil Protection Department.

In the field of remote sensing observation, ASI is developing the instrument ROSA, (Radio

Occultation for Sounding of Atmosphere), that will provide for important information about space

weather, meteorology and climatology. This instrument will be installed on the Indian satellite,

Oceansat-2, according to a Memorandum of Understanding, signed by ASI and ISRO, in Fukuoka,

in October 2005, and on the Argentinean SAC-D satellite, in cooperation with NASA.

Italy is interested in the development of hyperspectral technologies and gained an important role in

the capacity of applicative utilization of satellite data. Particularly in the hyperspectral remote

sensing technique, ASI is investing in the national project HyPSEO.

At international level, Italy and Canada signed, in June 2005, a Memorandum of Understanding for

Cooperation in the field of Earth Observation and, in October 2005, an Implementation Agreement

on cooperation in a joint definition phase for a Hyperspectral mission.

At European level Italy participates to the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security

(GMES) programme, identified in the European Strategy for Space approved by the EU and ESA

Ministerial Councils in November 2000.

At multilateral level, ASI is member of the Committee On Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), the

Integrated Global Observing Strategy (IGOS) and the Group on Earth Observation (GEO).

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Solar System Exploration

In the field of exploration of the Solar System, most of the Italian activities of the last two years

were dedicated to the exploitation of first data coming from the European probe, Mars Express, inorbit around Mars, the launch of Rosetta Mission and the arrival of the Cassini probe to Saturn and

its moon Titan. As far as Mars Express is concerned, a good deal of articles about the results of the

Italian instruments aboard the probe was published in several scientific magazines.

Onboard Rosetta probe, travelling toward the Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet, there are three

Italian instruments: the imaging spectrometer VIRTIS, the instrument GIADA, Grain Impact

Analyser and Dust Accumulator, for the analysis of the dynamic of the comet dusts, and the

instrument SD2, Sampling Drill and Distribution, installed on the lander Philae.

Italy participates to the NASA Discovery Program, DAWN that will characterize the conditions and

processes that existed when the solar system was initially formed, and investigate in details two of

the largest proto-planets, having remained intact since their formations: Ceres and Vesta. ASI



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collaborates to the design and development of the instrument, Mapping Spectrometer, which is a

simplified version of the instrument VIRTIS, on board Rosetta mission.

Italy participated to the NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), with the realization of the

shallow radar, SHARAD, that will probe the subsurface of the red planet, using radar waves at 15-

25 MHz frequency band, in order to get the desired high depth resolution, with the objective to seek liquid or frozen water up to the first kilometre of the Mars’crust. MRO was successfully launched in

August 2005 and it is on its way towards the Red Planet.

Italy is the main supporter of ESA optional programme, AURORA, with the purpose to give an

important contribution to the “Worldwilde Vision for Exploration”, in the areas of main excellence

for Italian industries and science community: radar systems, spectrometry, telecommunications,

robotics and innovative space propulsions. AURORA programme is focused on the robotic and

long term human exploration of Mars and other bodies of the Solar System.

By adopting the same philosophy of Mars Express mission management, ASI participates to the

ESA Programme, Venus Express, by implementing the assembly and test activities of the probe, atthe Alenia Spazio facilities, in Turin. Venus Express will investigate, inter alias, the atmosphere of

Venus, in order to better understand the origins of the “greenhouse effect”. Venus Express was

successfully launched in November 2005, from Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Italy participated to the ESA mission, SMART-1, devoted to the moon exploration and

investigation of the utilization of the electric propulsion. In particular, Italy participated to the

micro-camera AMIE and the Electric Propulsion Diagnostic Package (EPDP). Launched in 2004,

the satellite is currently in orbit around the moon.

ASI actively participates to the International Working Groups leaded by NASA, such as

International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG) and International Mars Exploration

Working Group (IMEWG). ASI in collaboration with ESA organized, in May 2005, in Sarteano

(Italy), a workshop on “International Cooperation on the Sustainable Space Exploration”, in order

to discuss possible mechanism of cooperation among international partners and to make

presentations of current space activities and future programmes in the field of “Lunar”, “Mars

Robotics”, “ISS and Exploration”, “Technology” and “International Cooperation”.

High Energy Astrophysics

In the field of the exploration of High Energy Astrophysics, the Italian tradition, consisting in the

collaboration among astrophysicists and particle physics for the realization of particle detectors,gave an important contribution to the European Missions, such as XMM-Newton and INTEGRAL

(INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysical Laboratory), fully operational and to American

Programmes, such as Swift, launched in November 2004 and the future mission GLAST.

A national mission deemed to the study of the Gamma Ray Sources is AGILE (Astrorilevatore

Gamma a Immagini LEggero), equipped with an instrument composed of two detectors, capable of

producing images through the utilization of the silicon detector technology. The satellite is made up

of the ASI standard platform MITA and the launch is scheduled for the early 2006.

The magnetic telescope, PAMELA (Payload for AntiMatter Exploration and Light nuclei

Astrophysics), is the evidence of the Italian-Russian cooperation for the measurement of spectra of antiprotons, positrons and nuclei in a wide range of energies, to search for primordial antimatter and

to study the cosmic ray fluxes over half a solar cycle. The physical issues addressed by these



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observations include: role of Grand Unified Theories in Cosmology in relation to antimatter and

dark matter, processes of acceleration and propagation of cosmic rays and the relationship between

solar, terrestrial and heliospheric processes and energetic particle propagation in the heliosphere.

Italy participates to the international project for the development of the Alpha Magnetic

Spectrometer (AMS), which represents a high energy particle physics experiment in space to beinstalled on the International Space Station, in 2008, for at least three years of operation. It will be

able to investigate the composition of cosmic rays and will provide the most sensitive search for the

existence of anti matter nuclei and for the origin of dark matter.

Cosmology and Fundamental Physics

During the year 2005, Italian scientific activities have been implemented for the participation to

ESA Program Herschel, with the objectives to study the formation of galaxies in the early universe

and their subsequent evolution and to investigate the creation of stars and their interaction with the

interstellar medium. Italy will provide for qualified technological instruments, such as digital

processing units, onboard software, calibration instruments etc. The launch is scheduled for August2007.

Italy, also participates to the ESA mission, Planck, with the objectives to study the fabric of the

Universe, and to help astronomers to develop theories describing its birth and evolution. Planck will

examine cosmic microwave background radiations with an accuracy never achieved before. The

Low Frequency Instrument will be designed and built by a consortium of more than 22 scientific

institutes, led by the Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica (INAF) in Bologna, Italy. The

launch is scheduled for August 2007.

An important asset of excellence for Italy is the ASI’s Launch Base for Stratospheric Balloons, in

Trapani (Sicily). Several experiments can be carried out just as well in “near space” environment,

where access is much cheaper. The stratospheric environment is, in fact, suitable for a vast series of

missions reproducing space conditions: radiations, temperatures, height from the ground, and

composition of the stratosphere itself.

At the quote of 40 kilometres, these balloons represents a good “observatory” of the Universe and

with the experiment BOOMERANG (Balloon Observations Of Millimetric Extragalactic Radiation

ANd Geophysics), Italy continues to play an important role in the international collaboration, for

development and exploitation of the observatory of the Cosmic Microwave Background: the results

appeared in the scientific magazine, “Nature”, in 2000, provided an exciting high quality data for

cosmology.

A second launch was successfully performed in 2003 and the programme is going on with anational experiment, mission B2K5, planned for June 2007, where most of the instrument will be

improved, in order to get finer scientific data.

Italy participates to the ESA mission, LISA Pathfinder that will test the general concepts and

technologies needed for highly accurate formation flying and precise measurement of the separation

between two very distant spacecrafts. This technology is essential for future ESA-NASA

programme, LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna), which aims, inter alias, at searching for

gravitational waves. The launch of LISA mission is scheduled for 2012.



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In the field of telecommunication, ASI has started, in 2005, the development of two national

projects of telemedicine: an applicative project based on the utilization of space-based technologies

for the remote medical assistance and an operative project for the integration and inter-operability

between the wide band satellite communication system and the terrestrial communication network,in order to guarantee the envisaged Telemedicine Institutional Services.

As to the security and emergency applications, ASI has started, in 2005, the development of the

following two national projects: an application project for the emergency management of Civil

Defence and Protection and an operative project for the integration and inter-operability between

the wide band satellite communication system and the terrestrial communication network,

particularly in mobile communication systems.

In addition, at European level Italy participates to the ESA programme, ARTES (Advanced

Research in Telecommunication Systems), which aims at further increasing the competitiveness of

European industry in satellite telecommunications.

With reference to the navigation systems, Italy participates to the Galileo programme, which is

being implemented in three phases: Definition, Development and In-Orbit Validation and Full

Deployment and Operations.

Italy participates to the precursor mission for the GALILEO system, consisting of two satellites:

GSTB-V2/A and GSTB-V2/B, “baptized” in November 2005, Giove A and Giove B. In particular,

Italy, since 2003, has contributed to the development of GSTB-V2/B, whose primary purpose is to

secure the filings allocating global radio frequencies and to demonstrate and validate all

technologies previously developed under the GALILEO project. The launch of Giove B is

scheduled for early 2006.

In the framework of the Navigation and Positioning application, with the utilization of the services

provided by GPS, EGNOSS and GALILEO systems, three studies of applicative national Macro-

Projects on Security and Transportation have been implemented, in 2005, in accordance with the

National Space Plan: Security of air transportation, through the improvement of traffic

management, in compliance with environmental requirements; Security of dangerous freights,

taking into account possible risks from accidents causing damage to people, environment and

viability; Security of maritime transportation, for a better efficiency of operational activities, such

as rescue and maritime first aid and navigational traffic management, particularly in the port areas.

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The Italian activities are mainly devoted to the assembly and utilization of the International Space

Station. In particular, Italy contributed with the development of three pressurized Multi-Purpose

Logistics Modules (MPLM). The Raffaello module flew to the ISS, during the Return to Flight

Shuttle Mission STS 114, in July 2005.

Italy also contributed, through ESA, to the development of Node 2, which interconnects the

assembly elements of the ISS, and Cupola, a special window on space, allowing the ISS crew to

manoeuvre the robotic arm and thus facilitate the assembly of the various parts of the Station.

The Italian Society ALTEC (Advanced Logistic Technology Engineering Center), a joint venture between the Italian Space Agency and private companies with the scope of supporting the

International Space Station and offering a wide range of services for the station’s users and



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customers, continues to provide the sustaining engineering activities for the MPLM missions to the

ISS.

In April 2005, the Italian astronaut Roberto Vittori took part in the Soyuz Eneide mission. For

Vittori, that was his second trip to the Space Station: in 2003, he took part in the Marco Polo

mission, also on board a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.During the Eneide mission, Vittori carried out a programme comprising 22 on-orbit experiments in

the fields of biology, human physiology, technology and education. Many of these were developed

by Italian researchers and built by Italian industry and research institutions.

The mission was co-sponsored by the Italian Ministry of Defence and the Region of Lazio, in the

framework of an agreement between ESA and Roscosmos, the Russian federal space agency.

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In 2005, ASI has been engaged to implement three main applicative projects in the field of

Osteoporosis and Muscular Atrophy, Motion Control and Cardio-respiratory problems and

Biotechnologies applications.

Italy participates to the “European Programme for Life and Physical Sciences and Applications,

ELIPS. The objectives are to maximise the benefits to society by the utilisation of the International

Space Station, to promote European competence and competitiveness in life and physical sciences,

to pursue basic scientific research in life and physical sciences and also industrial and commercial

applications in space, and to set up a coherent framework for European activity in this area.

In this contest, Italy contributes to the facility MISS, Mice on International Space Station, as the

evolution of the Italian facility MDS, Mice Drawer Systems. The use of rodents for scientific

research to bridge the gap between cellular biology and human physiology is a new challengewithin the history of successful developments of biological facilities. MISS is an ESA funded study

aimed at developing a facility able to support experimentation in space with mice in the following

research areas: Bone Physiology - Neuromuscular investigations - Neuroscience and Development -

Metabolic studies - Cardiovascular investigations - Behaviour.

Further contribution to the ISS utilization is the programme ALTEA, Anomalous Long Term

Effects in Astronauts. The tests conducted using the ALTEA hardware, fully developed by the

Italian industry, will help scientists characterize how the heavy ion radiation of space impacts the

brain and whether or not that radiation causes any temporary or permanent abnormalities in the

brain function and the visual system in particular. The launch is expected for the second half of

2006.

Italy is a new member of the International Space Life Sciences Working Group (ISLSWG), leaded

by NASA. In this field, ASI coordinates the national scientific community, particularly in the areas

of musculoskeletal system, neurophysiology, and biotechnological applications, which are in

compliance with the ISLSWG strategic planning.

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Most of the Italian activities in the non-reusable launcher sector are included in the ESAProgrammes, such as Ariane 5 (development and production support), Vega (development and

production support) and Soyuz at the Guiana Space Centre.



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In 2002 ASI and Russian Space Agency signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the

Cooperation on Launcher and Space Propulsion. Under the above Agreement some Italian and

Russian Companies are jointly working on the project MIRA concerning the development,

manufacturing and certification of a new engine operating with liquid methane as fuel, in order to

meet the requirements to the maximum extent of the project LYRA, future evolution of Vega

Launcher.

In the field of the reusable launchers, Italy is also involved in the ESA Future Launcher Preparatory

Programme. In addition, the Italian Space Agency’s activities are focused on the investigation and

evaluation of key technologies for future reusable space transport systems and on research studies

on innovative materials and structures for the space transport systems, such as Aerothermodynamics

and Ultra-High Temperature Ceramics (UHTC). An application of these technologies will be

implemented in the CIRA Aerospace Research Programme, PRO.RA, funded by the Italian

Ministry of Education and Research. In this frame, the Space Program Office of CIRA, Italian

Aerospace Research Centre, is leading System and Technology activities finalized to the

development of Flying Test Beds (FTB), aimed at the in flight experimentation to test new

advanced technologies useful for the next generation of re-entry vehicles (Unmanned SpaceVehicle, USV).

In 1995 an inter-Governmental Agreement established the bilateral co-operation between Italy and

Kenya concerning the Italian Satellite Tracking and Launch Station, named “Broglio Space Centre”

(BSC), in Malindi (Kenya), taking into account the need to promote exploration and use of outer-

space for peaceful purposes.

The BSC, positioned in the equatorial area, is composed of the sea segment with four platforms and

the land segment with Telemetry, Tracking and Control facilities. Since January 2004, ASI has

been responsible for the management of the BSC, which supported several international

programmes, such as: Arianespace and Titan Launches; ESA and commercial satellite Early Phase

Orbit Support (LEOP); Chinese manned flight missions, Shenzhou, NASA mission, SWIFT and the

national mission Bepposax for TT&C support.

ASI is evaluating the feasibility of reactivating the launch servicing for small satellites from the

BSC.

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ASI promotes the education and culture of the space technologies and applications. Several

programmes are dedicated to teachers and students, by promoting the use of high-tech and satellitetechnology. In particular, ASI, in collaboration with the Italian Aerospace Research Centre, CIRA,

is coordinating the activities concerning the programme “Aerospace Educational Web Channel”.

The main purpose of this programme is to broadcast via satellite educational modules regarding

aerospace topics suitable for younger students. Supporting this programme is a web-site

(www.spazioallescuole.it), representing a cultural bridge between schools and the institutions,

which promote the spread of aerospace culture.

ASI promotes the Parabolic Flights for the student-made experiments, to be tested in quasi zero-

gravity condition and promotes Technical and Scientific Education for post graduated students,

representing the fundamental leverage to develop new competences and skills for the utilization of

applications and products in the field of high technology aerospace.



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At institutional level, Italy is engaged in several space initiatives with international partners, such as

USA, Argentina, China, Kenya, Japan and India.

In particular, ASI contributed to the establishment of the Gulich Institute, in Cordoba (Argentina),

in order to promote high level education in the field of Earth observation applications and

technology. ASI annually coordinates high level education fellowships, provided by the Italian

Government for Argentinean students, in the field of natural disaster prediction and risk management.

In the frame of the Inter-governmental Agreement between Italy and Kenya regarding the Satellite

Tracking and Launch Station of the Italian Base, “Broglio Space Centre”, in Malindi (Kenya), Italy

continues to support the technical education and professional training of Kenyan post-graduates and

doctorates.

In 2005, ASI started the elaboration of the new

National Aero-Space Plan (PASN) for the period 2006-2008



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Published: ASI – Agenzia Spaziale Italiana

Address: Via di Villa Grazioli, 2300198 - Rome – Italy

Editor: Gabriella Arrigo (email: [email protected]) Alessandro Gabrielli (email: [email protected])

International Relations OfficeStrategy, National and International Relations Department

Press date: Rome, February 3, 2006

Space Activities Report 2005 Italy

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