The Members of Parliament were welcomed by Luigi Pasquali, Coordinator of Leonardo Space Activities and CEO of Telespazio, who during the visit explained the activities of excellence carried out by the Leonardo Group in the space sector.
The meeting focused on the themes of space economy and of the strategic importance of the space sector for the national economic system. The parliamentary delegation visited the main installations of the "Piero Fanti" Fucino Space Centre”, which has been active since 1963 in the Fucino plain, in the province of L'Aquila, and that today is the first and most important "teleport" in the world for civil use, with over 170 antennas. More than 250 people work at the Space Centre, carrying out activities associated with the delivery into orbit and control of satellites and with telecommunications, television and multimedia services.
The Fucino facility also hosts the Control Centre for the COSMO-SkyMed satellite constellation for Earth observation, an Italian programme that envisages the launch of the first second-generation satellite by the end of the year, as well as one of the two Control Centres for the Galileo European navigation and localization system.