Also in attendance were Claudio Casini, Head of the European Commission Representation in Italy; General Franco Federici, Military Advisor to the Italian Prime Minister; Mario Cospito, Diplomatic Advisor to Minister Urso; Antonio Bartoloni, Head of the Office for Space and Aerospace Policies at the Prime Minister’s Office; and Colonel Daniele Donati, Chief of the Space Policy Office of the Italian Defence General Staff.
The visit was also attended by Marco Marsilio, President of the Abruzzo Region; Tiziana Magnacca, Regional Minister for Productive Activities, Industrial Research and Labour, and Giancarlo Di Vicenzo, the Prefect of L’Aquila.
The Commission delegation consisted of: Claudio Casini, Director of the European Commission Representation in Italy; Apostolia Karamali, Member of the Cabinet of the Commissioner and Mante Meskeleviciute, Communication Advisor to the Commissioner
The guests were welcomed by Massimo Claudio Comparini, Managing Director of Leonardo's Space Division, and Gabriele Pieralli, CEO of Telespazio.
Commissioner Kubilius and Minister Urso visited the Galileo Control Centre at Fucino, one of the operational infrastructures managing the European satellite navigation and positioning programme. Operated by Spaceopal—a 50/50 joint venture between Telespazio and the German Space Agency DLR—the Centre plays a key role in ensuring the reliability and continuity of Galileo, the European Union’s flagship space programme, which is now entering a new phase with the deployment of its second-generation satellites.
The visit continued with a tour of the LEOP (Launch and Early Orbit Phase) control room, where Telespazio manages the critical early stages of satellite deployment and control.
Among the key topics discussed during the visit was the IRIS² programme, through which Europe aims to establish its own constellation for secure connectivity. The Fucino Space Centre has been selected by the European Commission as one of the control sites for the system—an acknowledgement that rewards years of operational expertise and infrastructure reliability and confirms the strategic value of this site for the future of Europe’s major space infrastructures.
