Italy to build on Space Expo presence in Bengaluru for new partnerships with India

Bengaluru: Two decades after ISRO and the Italian Space Agency formalised their partnership, Italy is pitching its presence at the ongoing Bengaluru Space Expo 2024 to drive collaborations with a new India that harbours ambitions of global sway in the sector.

A country partner at the eighth edition of the expo, Italy is looking at extending the collaboration in three broad areas – Earth Observation (EO), space weather, and lunar exploration. The partnership between ISRO and Agancia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) started in 2005, with the two agencies signing a framework agreement.

In 2022, the two countries initiated work on joint working groups on EO. Sergio Ledda, the Scientific Attache of the Italian Embassy in New Delhi, told DH that having achieved “good levels” of results in the EO domain, Italy was pushing for formal agreements in two other core areas. “There is potential in other areas including gravitational waves. Projects that involve the academia in the two countries are also ongoing,” Ledda said.

Italy’s presence at the expo is led by the Italian Trade Agency, the country’s trade promotion body which has an office in the premises of the recently inaugurated Consulate General of Italy in Bengaluru. Four companies from Italy – including aerospace and defence group Leonardo – are showcasing their technologies at BSX 2024.

Alfonso Tagliaferri, the Consul General of Italy in Bengaluru, underlined the potential of collaboration among institutions, and in the private sector, in multiple areas including propulsion systems and satellites.

In December 2023, the first India-Italy Space Industry Day was held, with 15 companies from the two countries as participants. The event was coordinated by the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe).

Italy is the third-largest contributor to the European Space Agency and has been pushing concerted action on space legislation and developing infrastructure like advanced tracking bases.

It has been focusing on domains including infrastructure and operations, nanosats, telecoms and navigation, human and robotic explorations, space transportation, and EO that recorded a services market growth of 15 per cent in 2023, reaching 230 million euros.