| Italian Space Agency | |
|---|---|
| Agenzia Spaziale Italiana | |
| ASI logo | |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | January 1, 1988 [1][2] |
| Jurisdiction | Italian government |
| Headquarters | Rome, Italy |
| Employees | 200 |
| Annual budget | €700 million ($1 billion) in 2010 [3] |
| Agency executives | Enrico Saggese, President Luciano Criscuoli, Director General |
| Website | |
| www.asi.it | |
The Italian Space Agency (ISA) (Italian: Agenzia Spaziale Italiana; ASI) is a government agency established in 1988 to fund, regulate and coordinate space exploration activities in Italy.[1][4] Operating under the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR), the agency cooperates with numerous national and international entities who are active in aerospace research and technology, and with the Italian President of the Council of Ministers.[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 as CIRA 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 the European Space Agency and to its subordinate bodies as well as representing the country’s interests in foreign collaborations.
ASI's main headquarters are located in Rome, Italy, and the agency also has direct control over three operational centres. The Centre for Space Geodesy (CGS) located in Matera and the stratospheric balloon launch site at Trapani are both in Italy. As well as these ASI has access to its own spaceport, the Broglio Space Centre (formerly the San Marco Equatorial Range) on the coastal sublittoral of Kenya, currently used only as a communications ground station.[5] In 2008 ASI's annual budget was approximately €820 m and directly employed around 200 workers.[4]
Following a decision by the Council of Ministers, Enrico Saggese became president of the agency on July 3, 2009.[6] Luciano Criscuoli is the organisation's director general.
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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:
Early Italian space efforts during the Space Race era were built around cooperation between the Italian Space Commission (a branch of the National Research Council) and NASA supported primarily by the Centro Ricerche Aerospaziali, the aerospace research group of the University of Rome La Sapienza. This plan, conceived by Luigi Broglio, led to the San Marco programme of Italian-built satellites beginning with the launch of Italy’s first, San Marco 1, from Wallops Island.[5] 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 American Scout rockets like the original, but from its own spaceport.[10]
As one of the earliest countries to be engaged in space exploration, Italy became a founder and key partner in the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO) and the European Space Research Organisation (ESRO), established on March 29 and June 14, 1962 respectively. Both of these would later merge to form the European Space Agency on April 30, 1975.[1]
Further work would continue under the direction of the National Research Council including the launch of an indigenous telecoms/research satellite called SIRIO-1 in 1977.[11] A planned follow-up mission SIRIO-2 was destroyed in the Ariane 1 L-05 launch failure.[10] 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.
ASI’s first large scientific satellite mission was BeppoSAX, developed in collaboration with the Netherlands and launched in 1996. Named after Giuseppe “Beppo” Occhialini, an important figure in Italian high-energy physics, the satellite was a mission to study the universe in the X-ray part of the spectrum.
Following on from this ASI developed another high-energy astronomical satellite, AGILE for gamma ray astronomy, launched by the Indian 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;
Italy’s space industry has also been involved in many other scientific missions such as SOHO, Cluster II, ISO, XMM-Newton and Planck.
The technology experiments TSS-1 and TSS-1R were also conducted in partnership with NASA.
Currently ASI is a partner in the Ariane 5 launcher programme and more recently is the major (65%) backer of the ESA Vega small launcher, capable of putting a payload of 1500 kg to low Earth orbit.
ASI is a participant in many of ESA's programmes in the field of Earth Observation such as ERS-1, ERS-2, ENVISAT, the Meteosat series and the Galileo satellite navigation system. The agency has also collaborated with other European and international partners such as the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission with NASA.
In October 1992 NASA launched LAGEOS-2 (following LAGEOS-1 launched in 1976) in cooperation with ASI. A passive satellite, it is a sphere of aluminium covered with retroreflectors to reflect laser ranging beams emitted from ground stations on Earth. The primary mission goals were to determine accurately Earth’s Geoid and to measure Tectonic plate movement. In 2010 ASI’s own satellite, LARES, will be launched using the Vega rocket. The mission is designed to carry out similar studies to that of LAGEOS 2 but with much greater precision.
The Italian Space Agency, under direction of both the MUIR and the Ministry of Defence plans to develop COSMO-SkyMed constellation of satellites for both military and civilian use in a broad range of areas.
Through ASI, the Italian space industry is an active player in human spaceflight activities.
The three Shuttle MPLM cargo containers Leonardo, Raffaello and Donatello, were built for NASA in Turin, Italy by Alcatel Alenia Space, now Thales Alenia Space. They provide a key function in storing equipment and parts for transfer to the International Space Station.
A number of ISS modules have also been built in Italy. As part of ESA’s contribution to the costs of the International Space Station, Alcatel Alenia Space built Tranquility, Harmony as well as the Cupola observation deck for NASA.
ESA’s Columbus module, Western Europe’s primary scientific lab on board the ISS, 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’s European Astronaut Corps (EAC) to represent the country on missions. Italians to have flown in space are:
Samantha Cristoforetti and Luca Parmitano are Italy’s newest astronaut candidates, being selected in 2009, and have yet to fly.
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