The Italian Space Agency (ASI) is the national space agency of Italy. Its headquarters are located in Rome and it also has operational bases in Frascati, Tuscany and Sardinia. ASI is responsible for the country’s space research and technology programs. It promotes, coordinates and conducts space activities on behalf of the Italian Government and industries. Founded in 1988, ASI has become one of the most significant players in the global aerospace market with a strong international reputation.
ASI’s main mission is to foster peaceful development of space technologies and their applications for scientific research, environmental protection, security, industrial competitiveness as well as social and economic benefits for all humanity.
To pursue its mission ASI works closely with universities and other public or private institutions both in Italy and abroad. The Agency operates three National Laboratories dedicated to specific themes within the field of space science: “Telescopio Nazionale Galileo” (TNG) at Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (La Palma Island, Canary Islands), “Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati dell’INFN”(LNF) near Rome ,and finally “Laboratorio Nazionale di Legnaro” (LNL)of INFN at Padua . ASI is also active in developing new technologies related to satellite navigation (Galileo positioning system) through its subsidiary Telespazio. Lastly ASI provides support to astronomy through another subsidiary Altec Spa which manages two observatories: “Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri” Florence ,and “Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo GALILEO”.
ASI has been involved in many successful missions including: SIRIO-2 an Earth observation satellite launched in 1993; COSMOS-1 a CubeSat nanosatellite deployed from International Space Station (ISS)in 2004; AGILE an X-ray gamma ray telescope deployed from ISS in 2007; UNIFY a sounding rocket mission to study auroras over Antarctica launched successfully from McMurdo Station in 2010; Cassini–Huygens which was a cooperative project between ESA , NASA ,and ASI launched in 1997 which studied Saturn’s atmosphere composition ; Juno spacecraft launched by NASA with participation from ASI studying Jupiter’s magnetic field since 2016. More recently LISA Pathfinder was developed by ESA with significant contribution from INFN -LNL scientists supported by ASIParticularly relevant to mention are contributions madeby engineers working at Thales Alenia Space Italy(formerly Alcatel Alenia Space). Among many things they were responsible for designing portions of International Space Station modules Cupola Node 3 “Tranquility”, European Robotic Arm(ERA), Multi Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo as well as ATV Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle ). They also worked on James Webb Space Telescope contributing sunshield modules among other things .In April 2018 it was announced that construction had begun on CosmoBiology Lab “Marco Polo” led by Professor Elena Pettinelli which will be installed inside China’s Tianzhou 1 cargo spacecraft set to launch towards ISS sometime late this year or early 2020s . This laboratory will allow experiments involving microgravity conditions necessary for studies on cell behavior changes during long term exposureto outer space environment .With these endeavoursItalianSpace Agency continues its traditionof supporting ambitious projects aimedat better understanding our place inthe Universe while providing tangiblebenefitsfor society here on Earth