Key highlights of the new Italian Space Strategy

Published

Jan 05 2021

Written By

Senior Associate
Italy

I work as a senior associate in our Competition and European Union Law department in Rome, where I deal with Technology and Communications, assisting our national and international clients in EU and competition law matters, supporting companies in their business activities and assisting them in proceedings relating to abuse of dominant position and agreements restrictive of competition before the Antitrust Authority. I am often involved in comprehensive and structured antitrust audit and compliance programmes with Italian and international clients.

Federico Marini Balestra

Partner
Italy

As a partner in the EU & Competition Group in Italy, my practice areas stretch from antitrust and regulatory proceedings, to administrative and commercial litigation, with in-depth expertise in TMT law and regulation.

Sectors

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Western Europe

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Italy

As foreseen in the 2019 Government Report to the Parliament on the national activities carried out and the results achieved in the space and aerospace sector, the last couple of months have been crucial to define the Italian space strategy for the next decade.

The Strategic Document of National Space Policy and the Document on the Strategic Space vision, have identified the areas on which the Italian space actors, active both in the private and public sectors, should focus their efforts from now until 2029 i.e:

telecommunications and Earth observation;
study of the universe;
access to space (by means of the Vega rocket, in particular);
sub-orbital flights and stratospheric platforms;
in-orbit servicing;
robotic exploration of the moon.

To this end, the objective is to have a dedicated industrial policy aimed at supporting new technology supply chains and a specific program to attract financial capitals covering the entire supply chain, from satellites to downstream services. In practice, this has already led the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency to the conclusion of two agreements worth €167 million in the framework of the Space Rider mission. From an economic and industrial point of view, the future of the space economy also depends on the development of small and medium-sized enterprises and start-ups. In order to support investments and the commercial development of the entire space technology sector, clear rules are expected.