At the meeting no. 6/2023 on 10 October 2023, the Board of Directors of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) appointed Dr. Luca Vincenzo Maria Salamone Director General of the Agency, with effect from 15 November 2023.

Dr. Salamone is a Senior Civil Servant with a degree in Economics (with a specialization in digital innovation and global markets), in Political Science and in Law. He also holds a specialization in Public Administration Sciences and is qualified as a lawyer; in addition, he holds a PhD in Public Law from Tor Vergata University, Rome, and master’s degrees “Economic Law and Public Management” from the University of Pisa, “International Studies” from SIOI and “Management of Public Authorities” from the Bocconi University School of Management, Milan.

Dr. Salamone – formerly a senior officer in the Armed Forces, serving in various complex military commands – has studied in leading national and international training institutions and has almost thirty years of experience in the Italian Civil Service, gaining deep experience of administrative and economic issues, as well as operational and technical-scientific ones.

In particular, prior to his appointment to Director General of ASI, Dr. Salamone was Coordinator of the Mission Structure for Sea Policies at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. Previously, as a manager at the Ministry of Defence, he worked at the Defence General Secretariat and National Armaments Directorate, dealing mainly with procurement and research and technological innovation in the military and dual-use sector, both nationally and internationally. In this role, he had a particular focus on NATO and other international contracts for defence and aerospace equipment (including Sicral II, Athena-Fidus and the COSMO-SkyMed dual-use system of Earth observation radar satellites). He has also held a variety of positions in the advisory councils of the Ministry for Economic Development, the Ministry for Infrastructure and Transport, the Ministry for the Environment and the Protection of Land and Sea and, most recently, the Ministry of Defence.

Dr. Salamone has also lectured on international law, maritime administrative law, judicial police and the law of the seas at Livorno Naval Academy, and was adjunct lecturer in Public Management at the University of Catania's School of Advanced Studies, as well as at numerous university and post-graduate training institutes. He contributes to a number of scientific journals, having authored numerous scientific articles on public law - also with reference to the protection of strategic industries - and international law.

Dr. Salamone was awarded the title of Cavaliere dell'Ordine 'Al Merito della Repubblica Italiana' (Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic) for his career in public service.