Italy Strengthens Its Role in the New Race to the Moon

Italy’s Minister for Enterprises and Made in Italy, and the government’s delegated authority for space and aerospace policy, Senator Adolfo Urso, signed a Statement of Intent in Washington with NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman on cooperation for the lunar surface. Also present at the signing ceremony was the President of the Italian Space Agency, Teodoro Valente.

“This is an important recognition for Italy and for our companies, which will be called upon to build the habitat modules designed to ensure a safe and long-term presence of astronauts on the Moon. The astronauts’ ‘home’ will be ‘Made in Italy,’ built with Italian technologies and by Italian companies. We are playing a leading role in this new phase of lunar exploration as well, building on a tradition of space cooperation that has linked Italy and the United States since the time of Rocco Petrone, director of the Apollo program and a key figure in the first Moon landing,” Urso said during a ceremony at the residence dedicated to the centennial of Petrone’s birth.

The Statement signed by Urso and Isaacman provides for collaboration between Italy and the United States on habitat modules, communication systems, and scientific activities on the lunar surface, with the goal of establishing a stable and lasting human presence on the Moon. The agreement falls within the framework of the Artemis space program and aims to develop a sustainable U.S.-led lunar base, with Italy playing a central role as a technology partner.

“We will return to the Moon – and this time to stay. We will do so thanks to Italian technology and with an Italian astronaut on one of the upcoming Artemis missions. Companies from our aerospace districts, starting with the one in Turin, have the capabilities to ensure the success of these long-duration missions,” the minister added.

The agreement strengthens the long-standing cooperation between Italy and the United States in the space sector, which began with the “San Marco” program that made Italy the third country to independently launch a satellite. It further consolidates Italy’s role in the strategic technologies of the future and confirms the presence of at least one Italian astronaut in future lunar missions under the Artemis program. These flight opportunities will be in addition to those available through NASA-ESA cooperation, as announced by European Space Agency Director Josef Aschbacher during the latest ESA Ministerial Council in Bremen, chaired last November by Minister Urso.