ROME - Italy is at the forefront of a new space race. The aim? To make space more “accessible to everyone in a sustainable way with competitive costs,” as said by Avio CEO Giulio Ranzo. 

 Avio is an Italian aerospace company launched in 1908 in Turin. It is the prime contractor, along with the European Space Agency, for the new European launcher Vega: “a light launcher of satellites up to 1,500kg”, states the website. Vega’s mission is scientific and Earth observation missions to polar and low Earth orbits.

 It also plays a “strategic role in the global space industry through Ariane 5, a programme involving the largest satellite launcher in Europe.”

 Ranzo’s speech took place on Tuesday when none other than Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni visited the aerospace giant’s plant in Colleferro, who praised Avio, saying: “You’ve made me discover an Italian gem just a stone's throw from Rome. Thank you for what you do and for the technology you are developing. I am conscious and fascinated that we live a different phase of space travel.”

 Avio’s CEO responded: “It is an honour to receive the visit of the Prime Minister, which highlights the attention of the top leaders of the institutions on what we do”. He added: “Avio is at the heart of this new space race”. “

 “The pursuit of innovative and state-of-the-art technologies,” Ranzo continued, is “the challenge for the future” that the company is also facing with “new opportunities for development and employment, in maximum transparency of the market.” 

 The International Monetary Fund saw a growth of 1.3% in Italy’s GDP in June: Gentiloni commented: “The news of the last few days reveals predictions of higher growth and companies like Avio are a positive sign for workers, but there is still a lot to do.”

 Also present during Gentiloni’s official visit were Colleferro mayor Pierluigi Sanna, Daniel Neuenschwander, the Director of Space Transportation at the European Space Agency, Stéphane Israel, Chief Executive Officer of Arianespace and Alain Charmeau, Head of Operations for Space at Airbus Safran Launchers (ASL).

 Having greeted Avio’s researchers and technicians, Gentiloni then began the tour of the internationally-avant-garde facilities in which the P120 C engine, part of the latest Ariane 6 project, will be built. Avio has described the engine: “The new powerplant is derived from the first stage of the Vega Launcher P80. Like its predecessor, the structural casing is made of carbon fibre, which is built from pre-impregnated epoxy sheets through filament winding and automatic fabric deposition. It will contain 141 tons of solid propellant.”