Agreement between Italy and the United States on the Artemis program for the exploration of the Moon.
The declaration of intent was signed today at Palazzo Chigi by the undersecretary to the Prime Minister with responsibility for space policies, Riccardo Fraccaro, in liaison with the chief administrator of NASA, Jim Bridenstine.
Italy is the first European country to sign a bilateral agreement on lunar exploration with the United States.
Fraccaro, new historical page
"Italy - has signed a historic agreement with the United States to establish cooperation in the path of space exploration that will bring man back to the Moon and, in the future, also to Mars. For us it is a great honor, as well as a great opportunity, to be the first EU country to sign this agreement that will give us the opportunity to participate in the lunar mission and to have a leading role in the most ambitious space activity program ever implemented ", said Fraccaro on the sidelines of the event. .
The signing of the agreement, continued Fraccaro, contributes to writing "a new page in the history of space exploration" and is a further recognition - towards the role of our country within the Artemis mission, which will bring the first woman on the Moon and has the objective of establishing a continuous and self-sufficient presence on the lunar surface ". The undersecretary then recalled the" long history of cooperation in the space field "of Italy and the United States and noted that, with the signed agreement today, "the partnership is also strengthened in a long-term perspective for future projects. This agreement will allow our country to express its full potential in scientific and industrial terms by participating in a mission with extremely ambitious goals that go beyond the moon landing, scheduled for 2024 ".
The goal, continued Fraccaro," is in fact, to use the Moon as an operational base for space exploration "and includes the development of activities in view of future missions that will take man to Mars." Starting from what has already been developed for the low earth orbit and for the Space Station International, Italy - Fraccaro said - among other things will guarantee the supply of housing capacity for the crew on the Moon, will be able to conduct scientific experiments and provide telecommunication services through surface resources and lunar orbital constellations. Thanks to the mutual commitment of Italy and the United States, space exploration will take a new, enormous step forward. It is an extraordinary opportunity for our supply chain, which can boast unique excellence in all sectors, from the research to the industrial sector. We were the third country in the world to launch a satellite into orbit, we are the second ESA contributor in the exploration sector and one of the world leaders in the field of space activities. With the Joint Statment signed with the United States - Fraccaro concludes - Italy begins the journey to the Moon ".
Saccoccia (ASI), great satisfaction
" Great satisfaction "of the president of the Italian Space Agency (ASI), Giorgio Saccoccia, for the declaration of intent on NASA's Artemis lunar exploration program, signed by the Italian government and the United States.
It is an agreement, Saccoccia notes in a note, which "confirms the historic friendship between the two countries and the long tradition of bilateral cooperation between ASI and NASA. With the subsequent Implementation Agreements between the two space agencies, the Italian contributions to the program will be specified in detail, which will contribute to making possible the dream of a sustainable presence in orbit and on the lunar surface: from housing modules, to scientific experiments, to the telecommunications system. ".
Perfume, for Italy, an agreement with the USA is worth 1 billion
" The agreement signed between Italy and the United States for cooperation in space exploration and, in particular, in the program, amounts to approximately 1 billion euros for the national industry Artemis for the return to the Moon ". This was indicated by Leonardo's CEO, Alessandro Profumo, commenting on the agreement.
" These are the estimates of the economic impact in the short and medium term of the Joint Statement signed by Undersecretary to the Presidency Riccardo Fraccaro with the 'NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine ", says Profumo. He explains:" Our country, in addition to the very important contribution on technical and scientific plan, it will provide the lunar mission with the technological contribution necessary for the construction of the moon landing systems (lander) and the construction of further habitable surface modules (shelters). From the cooperation with the USA, therefore, for Italy there will also be a direct industrial return worth more than one billion euros, without counting all the positive effects for the supply chain and the related space ".
On twitter, then, the 'CEO of the aerospace, defense, security company, expressed his "congratulations to Riccardo Fraccaro and Jim Bridenstine for the cooperation agreement just signed between Italy and the United States", adding: "Two great countries once again united for a great scientific, technological and human challenge ".
