Outer space cooperation with Italy explored in Maribor

It was the Italian Trade Agency (ITA) in cooperation with the Italian Space Agency (ASI) that organised a symposium on the possibilities of such cooperation, with talks focusing on cooperation in the academic and research fields.

According to Iztok Kramberger, head of the laboratory for electronic and information systems at the Maribor faculty, cooperation between space experts from Maribor and Italy is already well established, especially in the industrial segment.

"Today, we want to intensify the scientific segment as well. This event is therefore mainly aimed at getting to know each other at the level of universities," explained Kramberger, who is also the head of the Trisat nanosatellite project.

A space weather research project has already been launched with three Italian universities. "Our ambition is for Slovenian technology to power satellites that will one day also measure space weather," Kramberger said.

Anilkumar Dave, space technology advisor at Genspace, presented the Sector Technology Hub to be launched in Trieste this spring. He said this was also an opportunity for Slovenian experts. This is an initiative open to cooperation in the region, he added.

Dave told the STA that Slovenia's advantage over other countries is that while it perhaps does not have a well developed industrial base, it has excellent education and research institutions and a good ecosystem for start-ups. Slovenia is also a good bridge between the EU and Eastern European countries, perhaps even central Asia, he said.

On the occasion of today's event, Italian Ambassador to Slovenia Carlo Campanile and Maribor Mayor Saša Arsenovič opened an exhibition entitled Looking Beyond, featuring photographs of locations on Earth taken by Italian satellites in space, in the faculty's foyer. This marked National Space Exploration Day, an annual event in Italy to commemorate the anniversary of the launch of the first Italian satellite, S. Marco 1, in 1964.

According to Silvia Ciccarelli, head of internationalisation and promotion at ASI, opportunities for cooperation with Slovenian scientists include Earth observation. This is also the field addressed by the exhibition.

Ambassador Campanile explained that in June 2021, the Slovenian Economy Ministry and ASI signed a letter of intent on cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space. In this context, an ASI delegation led by its president Giorgio Saccoccia will visit data acquisition systems maker Dewesoft in Trbovlje today.

Moreover, a bilateral meeting with Economy Minister Matjaž Han will take place on Wednesday. This will be followed by the second Slovenia-Italy business forum, aimed at identifying opportunities for new partnerships and strengthening existing partnerships between Slovenian and Italian companies active in the space sector.