The Italian Embassy in Oslo celebrated National Space Day and 60 years of the Italian space adventure with a webinar on satellite Earth observation.
On December 12, we brought together a panel of experts from Italy and Norway, who discussed the latest developments in bilateral collaboration in the field of satellite Earth observation during a webinar open to the public.
The online seminar, entitled “From Land to Sea: Norwegian-Italian Cooperation in Navigating Emerging Risks with Smarter Earth Observation Data and Services,” opened with a greeting from Ambassador Stefano Nicoletti, who recalled the numerous results achieved by the Italian space industry, most recently thanks to the successful launch of the European satellite Copernicus Sentinel-1. After the introductory speeches by Ole Morten Olsen, Director of Economic Development and Innovation of the Norwegian Space Agency, and the Head of Relations with EU Countries of ASI, Eng. Danilo Rubini, Dr. Donatella Giampaolo of e-Geos and the Vice President for Earth Observation of the Norwegian Ksat, Kristian Lindgård Knudtzon, offered an updated overview of the developments of the bilateral collaboration in the field of Earth observation and on the process of data collection and analysis for the study of global phenomena such as climate change. Dr. Roberto Nardini of the Italian Navy Hydrographic Institute closed the webinar by illustrating the implications of the topic in question for the maritime sector.
Ambassador Nicoletti highlights how “satellites dedicated to the study and observation of the Earth have an increasingly important role: their applications include the study of the environment, the prediction and monitoring of natural disasters, a more rational exploitation of natural resources. Thanks to satellites, it is now possible to monitor the health of the planet like never before and the COSMO-SkyMed radar constellation promoted by ASI and distributed by e-Geos is a unique example in the world. Also thanks to the over ten-year experience of collaboration between e-Geos and Ksat, which receives COSMO-SkyMed satellite data via one of its antennas on the Svalbard Islands, we hope to be able to continue to develop important synergies in the space sector with our Norwegian partners”.
🌟 Webinar Highlights 🌟
Here are some highlights from the webinar:
- Italy is a leading country in the space sector on a global level and among the first in the world in terms of activities and research: 7 billion Euros of public investment in the 2021-2026 period; a turnover of 2 billion; 300 companies; 12 districts and 6,000 employees.
- The Italian space industry covers the whole value chain (from launchers to space upstream to downstream activities) and has extensive commercial relationships around the world.
- Italy’s adventure in space began as far back as 15 December 1964, when the San Marco 1 satellite was sent to orbit from Wallops Flight Facility in the US Virginia. It has been a 60 years journey among the stars, filled with success stories, and more to come. Just a few days ago Vega-C rocket, designed and built by Italian company Avio Group , took to orbit ESA’s Copernicus Sentinel 1C satellite, developed by a consortium led by French-Italian conglomerate Thales Alenia Space. One of the first images collected by this satellite pictures Svalbard!
- We can count on a strong collaboration between Norway and Italy “from stockfish to space”! The Italian Space Agency and the Norwegian Space Agency signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of space activities for peaceful purposes on 30th November 2021. Between the areas of cooperation: Earth Observation, Space Situational Awareness, Micro-Launchers and Space Ports.
- COSMO-SkyMed is an Italian Earth-imaging constellation which provide global Earth observation that can be repeated several times a day in all-weather conditions. E-GEOS and KSAT has an agreement for COSMO data reception at Svalbard, Troll and Singapore. The analysis of the data allows to transform images into information reports useful for different domains: maritime surveillance, defence, agriculture management, asset management, urban management, emergency management.
- Within the IT Navy HIGH NORTH program, the Italian Hydrographic Institute (IIM) and e-GEOS work on a joint project which utilises data from COSMO-SkyMed for supporting Arctic navigation and the development of the new routes, by providing information for increasing security, safety and protection of the Arctic.
- The Italian and Norwegian Space flagship programs, together with existing and future EO capabilities, represent invaluable assets that can significantly bolster the safety and security of our nations.
Thank you to all speakers and attendees!
