The government's plans for space: five years for a national satellite constellation

Is it just the Starlink case or does Italy really have an industrial policy design for space? An initial answer will come from the feasibility study entrusted by Comint, the interministerial committee for sector policies, to the Italian Space Agency.

The initial report has already been handed over to the government, and it is estimated that it will take at least five years to build a national constellation of around 100 satellites to guarantee a reserve of telecommunications services in emergency situations, such as natural disasters or wars. An infrastructure, to be used in areas related to defence and national security, which according to the government and the Space Agency could also be put at the service of other countries, from the Mediterranean area to the Balkans.

And at first glance, from this design, Starlink, the satellite Internet services unit of Elon Musk's Space X, could remain outside. Because the executive's idea seems to be to negotiate directly with Italian companies for the realisation of this infrastructure and related service, opting for a private negotiation by virtue of the institutional and strategic nature of the programme. In short, in the end there might not be a tender, an eventuality that is instead mentioned in the space bill that, in the passage in which it potentially opens the door to Atlantic Alliance subjects as well (just like the American Starlink), has passed amidst harsh opposition controversy in the Chamber and is currently being examined by the Senate.

In the meantime, Comint has mandated Asi to carry out one-to-one meetings with potentially interested Italian companies, and a final report is expected by the end of the summer to understand in detail the costs and feasibility of a project that is entirely made in Italy. An outcome that, however, is not a foregone conclusion. "Asi will meet with our companies," Enterprise Minister Adolfo Urso said in recent days, "to understand whether they are capable, on their own, of building the constellation.

And Starlink? To return to the original question, it would still be in the field for the oft-mentioned €1.5 billion deal. An agreement at that point to be considered as a bridging supply, i.e. as long as necessary for the realisation of both the national and the European constellation Iris².