Italy

Brussels, 6th of October 2021

World Space Week

Space Event & Collaboration between Italy and Belgium

Presentation of Telespazio Belgium

The Embassy of Italy in Brussels hosted in the Residence, on the occasion of the World Space Week promoted by the United Nations, an initiative aimed at promoting collaboration in the space sector between Italy and Belgium and presenting Telespazio Belgium, a company established in July 2021 and controlled by Telespazio, a joint venture between Leonardo and Thales.

The initiative took place in the presence of a qualified and selected parterre of institutional and business representatives, both Belgian and European, belonging to the space, industrial and research sectors, as well as representatives of the Belgian federal government. In fact, the Secretary of State, Thomas Dermine, responsible for economic revitalization and space policies, and Minister David Clarinval, responsible for small and medium-sized enterprises and agriculture were present. The Secretary of State Dermine, in highlighting the opportunities deriving from the respective national relaunch plans also in the space sector, expressed his strong wish to continue this important collaboration and therefore thanked Telespazio for bringing its activities and expertise in Transinne in the Ardennes.

The Ambassador of Italy to Brussels, Francesco Genuardi, underlined the importance and the specialty of the collaboration also in the space field between Italy and Belgium, destined to grow and strengthen further in the future, thanks to the active and dynamic role of one of the excellences Italian companies active in the space sector. Ambassador Genuardi then added that "The World Space Week, in which today's event was celebrated, is an important occasion to underline the importance of the contribution that space, science and technology lead to the improvement of the human condition, which also passes through a greater involvement of women in this strategic sector. Internationally recognized Italian figures such as Samantha Cristoforetti, Ersilia Vaudo and Manuela Aguzzi again can be models to be presented to girls and girls in guiding their future career path.

Telespazio's CEO, Eng. Luigi Pasquali, on the other hand, underlined the strategic importance of the space sector in Belgium which, thanks to the federal government's policy, has been the subject of an important and ambitious development plan to which Telespazio will be able to provide its expertise also with reference to the European programs to which participates (Copernicus, EGNOS and Galileo) and in new activities such as cybersecurity for satellites and drones. As for the role of women in the space sector, Pasquali wanted to underline the growing attention of the Telespazio Belgium group to women: 35% of the staff belong to the female gender with figures destined to increase further to reduce the gender gap.

The initiative made it possible to present Italy as excellence also in the high technology sector and to further strengthen the traditional friendship between Italy and Belgium, as well as the relationship with the federal and local communities, both in terms of creating qualifying opportunities. work for young talents, and participation in the construction of advanced infrastructures in the space sector.