«Space economy, Italy’s challenge to stay in the front row»- Corriere.it

The space race has geopolitical connotations: how important is it for Italy to maintain a leading role on the international scene?
“Absolutely decisive. Also because the race to the skies began with Italian ingenuity. Today we can still play a leading role with a renewed partnership with other European players, such as the one that emerges from the trilateral document that we signed with our French and German colleagues, not by chance before the ESA Ministerial began, precisely to direct it – replies the minister Adolfo Urso who has just been assigned the relative delegation -. And when it seemed that the negotiations were getting bogged down in the swamp of figures, the meeting with Le Maire unblocked the situation. It was noted that it is important for Italy to maintain the possibility of being able to independently access space through a launcher which at the moment is “our” Vega vector. Secondly, it is important to collaborate within the European Space Agency (ESA) in order to maximize the possibility of having top-level technologies while also minimizing risks, and obviously costs. This can only be done by strengthening the industrial cooperation already underway with the French, especially with Ariane Espace.

What are the main applications and repercussions for the country-system deriving from the Space economy?
Today the space economy assumes a very important role and will be increasingly important: it is estimated that in recent years about 350 billion dollars were already allocated to the space economy, and already as we speak this figure is reaching double size. Beyond the financial value of the economic expenditure, this means guaranteeing an industrial chain of absolute excellence for Italy made up of large global player companies and a myriad of SMEs which are the pride of our country. How much does the new tensions and the war in Ukraine with the inevitable decoupling with Russia on international missions also affect the scenarios of hybrid information warfare? With the tensions deriving from the war in Ukraine, space has also had important repercussions, first of all the interruption of a scientific and technological dialogue with Russia that began many years ago which had led to important joint missions, both in space and in the scenarios European space. I am fully aware of this also on the basis of my previous experience as president of Copasir.

Satellite signaling systems have a dual use, civil and military: what does the delegation to Space that has just been entrusted to it mean and how can we exploit the driving force of the Pnrr to boost investments?
«I think my previous experience also counted: the Committee in fact produced a specific report to Parliament on Space as a geopolitical factor, highlighting its dual use aspect. Moreover, our country is one of the few in the world capable of guaranteeing the entire space industrial chain from the “upstream” launch to the orbital one, to the downstream one, ie the sending of data to the ground. As you can understand, therefore, all of this involves important investments and therefore I am convinced that the funds of the PNRR can also help to push investments and there are already numerous projects that we will support. From the point of view of governance, how does your delegation marry with the Presidency of the Council which has powers of direction, coordination, programming and supervision of the Italian Space Agency (ASI)? This government is a political government – after more than ten years of parliamentary, technical or institutional governments, however short-lived – which therefore acts in a cohesive way on this dossier, and so, as with others, under the direction of Palazzo Chigi. President Meloni intended to give me the mandate to coordinate space and aerospace policies, precisely to underline teamwork as this issue requires, to best combine national interest and industrial development”.

How did the ESA ministerial meeting go, the summit of the heads of the European dicasteries with responsibility for space affairs? How will the European agency be refinanced and how much will Italy contribute to the budget?
«It was two days and two nights of intense work but we have achieved our objectives: with 3 billion euros we are once again in third place among the agency’s contributors, with approximately 18.1% of the entire budget which is equivalent to approximately 17 billion euros”.

Don’t you think there is a lack of a real industrial player in Europe for commercial space travel? Don’t you think between Virgin Galactic, SpaceX attributable to Musk and BlueOrigin we are lagging behind the United States and China also on the industrial side?
«As far as commercial space travel is concerned, Europe is actually lagging behind both the developments that have taken place and recorded in the United States and China. At the moment, in fact, European space policy has concentrated on the so-called institutional launches, leaving the commercial part as residual. Now even with the push of new players, such as Germany, this will be an increasingly important sector also in the context of European space policy. We are aware that we have to make up for the delay».

Were you impressed by Musk’s support of Ukraine’s anti-Russian satellite signaling systems? Don’t you think that private funding can also condition the outcome of wars between countries with private negotiating powers that also go beyond international geopolitical positioning?
«Musk is a private individual, and I don’t want to get into the dynamics of a market decision. But this makes us understand how important space satellite constellations are by now and for this very reason, also thanks to us, Europe in Paris decided to invest in its own satellite constellation which will one day be able to guarantee effective and protected communications also on our continent”.

Hot dossiers: single network? What kind of solution are we going towards? Public control with convergence between the Tim and Of networks under CDP control? Are private investments accepted in addition to those of Cdp for Tim’s primary network to integrate it with that of Of?
«We are aware of the urgency of many truly strategic dossiers for the development of the country on which past errors and defaults, sometimes sensational, weigh, and this is why we are working, together with other ministries, under the direction of Palazzo Chigi to give concrete answers that the country has been waiting for for a long time. It concerns the broadband network, but also the former Ilva, the fate of the air carrier, the Lukhoil case. Our direction is clear: we intend to create a publicly controlled national network that guarantees the service for everyone, citizens and businesses, everywhere on the territory, even in white areas. We are defining the ways to achieve it ».

What solution is the government imagining for the Priolo plant? On December 5, the embargo on Russian oil comes into effect: is the Lukoil plant doomed to bankruptcy because it is now out of the market? Are you imagining a nationalization or are you looking for a foreign international partner among the allied countries? Have you calculated the repercussions for related industries in Sicily? That plant accounts for only 20% of the island’s electricity demand and has repercussions for the entire supply chain
«We intervened immediately as soon as we took office, together with Minister Giorgetti, with the comfort letter from the Financial Security Committee, then we guaranteed the full operation of Sace, then we solicited the banks and yesterday’s meeting was certainly effective and constructive. In any case, they are committed to ensuring business continuity and production beyond December 5th. Have a few hours we know to catch up for months. I add for clarity that the mistake was made upstream, when, in Europe, Italy did not ask for the necessary exceptions to the embargo to defend national interests, contrary to what other more shrewd European countries did, for example Germany and Poland , in addition of course to Bulgaria which is an extreme case”.

Are we moving towards another governance model on the former Ilva? Why is the billion of the Aid decree still blocked? Are you planning a shareholder loan to dilute ArcelorMittal? Or can the 50 and 50% scheme with Invitalia destined to take control become the preferable path?
« In recent days we have had many direct discussions with all the players so that the allocated resources are not thrown into a bottomless “oven”. We need to make decisions in a short time to stop a landslide that began ten years ago and reverse the trend of production decline that has worsened in recent months: we have dropped to just 3 million tons of production compared to the 6 agreed. As we reiterated at the recent meeting of the former Ilva Table at the Ministry with local authorities at our side, together with trade unions and business associations, the goal is to use the resources allocated against a clear program to truly achieve the production and of industrial reconversion that the workers and citizens of Taranto have rightly expected for a long, too long time!»

What do you think of the future of Ita Airways? Would you be in favor of an investment by Lufthansa giving it control? Do you want a public quota, perhaps a block, to be paid by Ferrovie dello Stato or by the MEF itself?
«We fully shared the choices of Minister Giorgetti and the appointments of the new Governance. We are on the last page of a book that begins with the sensational mistake made in 1995 when he gave up on the Alitalia deal with KLM. At the time I was in my first experience in the Transport Commission and I was committed to that solution. However, we know that every solution must correspond to a clear industrial plan that enhances our hubs».

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