In the last few years, Space has established itself as an essential resource to monitor the Earth, for telecommunications, for Earth observation and geolocation services. Satellite services, and the data extracted from them (observation or positioning) become assets which, together with the potential of digital economy, can anticipate our society’s needs: space technologies and innovations are increasingly influencing our life, in a positive way. 

With the advent of the New Space Economy, the space sector, which for a long time was predominantly supported by the institutions, is witnessing an ambitious intervention by private investors. It’s a real cultural revolution, which is redefining the public/private ratio. 

Today, the Space Economy is recognised by the OECD (“The Space Economy at a Glance”) as one of the most effective motors for economic growth, far beyond the borders of the space sector in the strict sense. Innovation is the key to maintain and strengthen national competitiveness and is pursued through development initiatives for enabling and radically innovative technologies, by promoting opportunities coming from other industries or by facing challenges and opportunities offered by future missions at national and international level.

By enhancing innovation and research results, the knowledge and technologies developed in the context of space projects become available to commercial, industrial, social or research sectors other than those from which they originated. In the last few years, we are increasingly observing a cross-fertilization of terrestrial technologies with space technologies, which is made possible by the rate of evolution of such technologies. Due to it, the concept of transfer from Space to Earth (Spin-Out) and, vice versa, from Earth to Space (Spin-In) becomes an actual synergic development, where both the Space-Related products (products/services enhanced by Space) and the Space-Enabled products (products/services enabled by Space) are characterized by highly innovative elements. 

The lines of action by the ASI (Italian Space Agency) include activities to support technology transfer, through initiatives such as: 

  • transfer of technical-scientific knowledge to/in favour of small and medium-sized enterprises, large enterprises, universities and research centres; 
  • initiatives to support start-ups; 
  • support to competition/challenges and initiatives to look for new ideas; 
  • promotion of public and private additional investments (such as venture capital, risk finance, etc.),  which can have a leverage effect;
  • transfer mechanisms of technologies and methods from other productive sectors;
  • management and safeguard of the patent portfolio; 
  • development of knowledge intelligence tools; 
  • agreements with universities and research centres. 

On March 28th, 2017, the Italian Space Agency and the Hypatia Research Consortium created an ambitious project, aimed at proposing a new way to interpret applied research and technology transfer, and built the E.Amaldi Foundation, whose purpose is promoting and supporting scientific research for technology transfer, starting from the space sector as a key tool for the economic development of the country and as a source of innovation to improve competitiveness, productivity and employment. 


THE ITALIAN SPACE INDUSTRY CATALOGUE

The Italian Space Industry 2020 Catalogue

INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

The ITT activities can be summarised in three main macro-areas:

AGREEMENTS WITH RESEARCH AND INNOVATION STAKEHOLDERS, TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER: SPIN-OUT / SPIN-IN and RESEARCH & INNOVATION INTELLIGENCE
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS, and MANAGEMENT AND ENHANCEMENT OF THE PATENT PORTFOLIO
INCUBATORS: START-UPS AND SPIN-OFFS and RISK FINANCE

‣ News

TUESDAY 29 OCTOBER 2024

JUICE’s RIME Radar Pings the Moon and Listens to Earth ‣

ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, Juice, launched the 14th April 2023, will make detailed observations of the giant gas planet and its three moons – Ganymede, Callisto and Europa – with a suite of the state-of-the-art instruments MORE...

TUESDAY 29 OCTOBER 2024

CUBESAT Training Course ‣

From October 28 to November 8, 2024 MORE...

TUESDAY 29 OCTOBER 2024

Working Group Africa Training of Trainer Program ‣

The event, organized by ASI in collaboration with KSA, ISPRA and the School of Aerospace Engineering of the University "La Sapienza", took place in Nairobi MORE...

FRIDAY 25 OCTOBER 2024

First results from the NUT project ‣

Comparing the effects of psychophysical stress on astronauts and submariners MORE...

SATURDAY 19 OCTOBER 2024

75th International Astronautical Congress in Milan: A Step Forward for Africa in Space ‣

From October 14 to 18, 2024, Milan hosted the 75th International Astronautical Congress (IAC), one of the largest global events in the space sector, which brought together space agencies, universities, research centers, industries, and numerous representatives from civil society around the world. This unique opportunity for dialogue and collaboration offered an unprecedented chance for the development of space capabilities in emerging countries this year. Among the participants, with the support of ASI in collaboration with the Ministry of University and Research, were 14 Fellows—young professionals and students, including 9 women and 5 men—hailing from 11 African countries: Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, South Africa, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, and Rwanda. This participation reflects the commitment of the Italian Government under the Mattei Plan for Africa, aimed at fostering greater inclusivity and diversity in the space sector, with a particular focus on promoting African youth talent. In addition to these promising individuals, 12 SMEs and startups from various African countries had the opportunity to participate in this important event. These companies included:

  • DO-Launch (Egypt),
  • Davacc Tech (Kenya),
  • Team AHEAD (Rwanda),
  • KM-Spatial (Zimbabwe),
  • TELNET HOLDING (Tunisia),
  • Phymer (Morocco),
  • Galaxy Aerospace Ghana and Xavier Space Solutions (Ghana),
  • COFITEL (Tunisia),
  • BASSEER Technology Innovation Sarl (Algeria),
  • FARIS Technologies (Ethiopia),
  • Pegasus Universal Aerospace (South Africa).
These African companies were invited to participate in IAC 2024 as part of the collaboration between the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and ICE Agency. Thanks to ICE’s support, the businesses were accompanied by commercial analysts and hosted in a large exhibition area, where they had the opportunity to hold B2B meetings and participate in the conference's various networking initiatives. Their participation allowed them to gain full visibility into cutting-edge developments across all space domains. Furthermore, ICE Agency, within the framework of its collaboration with ASI, also hosted heads of space agencies and institutions responsible for space policies from African countries. This initiative strengthens ties between Italy and emerging space nations, promoting sustainable partnerships and the development of local capabilities through knowledge exchange and technological innovation. The 75th International Astronautical Congress in Milan thus reaffirms itself as a crucial event not only for the global space community but also for emerging nations, offering a valuable opportunity to build lasting collaborations and advance the development of the space sector in Africa.