From via Emilia to HoustonTexas, along with the regional aerospace supply chain: companies, universities, research centres. To consolidate the relationship and start new collaborations with the US aerospace industry hub, unique internationally for its growth capacity and rate of innovation. Starting from Nasasymbol and global landmark of space flight.
One sector, that ofaerospace economics, with high development potential for Emilia-Romagna. For its consolidated sub-funds such as avionics, infrastructure and ground services, advanced manufacturing, materials and simulation; others emerging, but now with a high specific weight in the Regional Data Valleycome big data and artificial intelligence, supercomputing, augmented reality, earth monitoring and climate; up to new areas such as the commercial spaceflightfor which it is necessary to develop research also in the biomedical, life sciences and food, to make the permanence in space, in the absence of gravity, increasingly livable. Overall, they are 180 businesses Emilia-Romagna potentially interested in aerospace.
Stop in Clear Lake City, historic headquarters of NASA
The mission of Region underway in Houston stopped at Clear Lake Cityin the historic headquarters of NASA, in the first center dedicated to human flight in 1961. Here the president Stefano Bonaccini and the Councilor for Economic Development, Vincenzo Collathey met William Harrismanaging director of the Space Center Nasae Daniel Jacobs, responsible for international collaboration projects. With them the Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Made in Italy, Valentine Valentiniand the lieutenant colonel Gaetanofabrizio Tavano for the Ministry of Defence. And the Emilia-Romagna companies active in the aerospace sector, from every province, taking part in the mission, who were able to present their projects. The visit inside the space flight control center and in the structure where the orbital space modules are located with an exceptional guide: the astronaut Luke Parmitano.
A strategic sector
“We are talking about a strategic sector, with high added value, with important scientific and industrial implications – underlined the president Bonaccini and the commissioner necklace-. Acquisition of satellite data for agriculture, the environment, the weather; study of new materials; health, food, pharmaceuticals. There are many applications of research in the aerospace field. For this reason, the regional space economy supply chain will be increasingly strategic, especially if integrated with the major international networks: and there is no doubt that Houston and NASA represent the greatest opportunity. In fact, Emilia-Romagna is a candidate to be among the protagonists of this process, thanks to a high quality and specialization manufacturing network, connected to the regional innovation system that brings together universities, research centres, companies and the world of work. We are in a position to be able to reap the benefits of the investments made in knowledge and skills in recent years, on infrastructures in the field of artificial intelligence and high-performance computing. And it is important to be in Houston together with the Government and the Air Force: focus on innovative sectors to create sustainable development enemployment high quality eggs it is in the interest of the whole country”.
President Bonaccini’s meeting with Michael Suffredinimanaging director of Axiom Space, the US company engaged in the construction of the first private orbiting station project in which some Italian companies will also be involved. A further opportunity for Emilia-Romagna: in particular, groups such as Dallara Automobili, Technogym and Barillaworking on materials, equipment for physical training and nutrition in orbit.
The pact between the Region and the Houston Space Pole
A relationship that consolidates. It is from 2021, in fact, theagreement between the Region, the Ministry of Defense and the Italian Air Force for the participation of the Emilia-Romagna aerospace chain in the new phase of space exploration launched by the USA. And, precisely, for the beginning of relations with the Houston space pole.
In the same year the birth of the Strategic forum for the promotion of the regional aerospace supply chaincoordinated by the Region through the in-house company Art-ER, with the aim of putting the many productive realities, research and development centers and companies in the sector into a system. And the establishment of the aeronautical-space technological hub of Forlì: a hub for research and innovation in the aeronautical and space fields.
The Emilia-Romagna aerospace supply chain is also a member of the European network Nereus and is part of National Aerospace Technology Cluster (Ctna) which brings together the various subjects operating in the national aerospace system: regional districts, Cnr, National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, Italian Aerospace Research Center, GE Aviation, Leonardo, Federation of Italian aerospace companies, Italian space agency.
Economy of the moon and space stations
The opportunities for collaboration in the aerospace sector are also at the center of the meetings that the Emilia-Romagna delegation is planning with three leading companies in the US aerospace industry: Houston Spaceport, Intuitive Machine e Nanoracks.
Houston Spaceport is a commercial spaceport offering access to the international aerospace community, launch and landing site for reusable suborbital missions. Intuitive Machine is a company that already has three lunar missions under its belt and is one of the first realities of the ‘moon economy’ movement, linked to the offer of space services to the Moon. Also Nanoracksactive since 2009, provides hardware and commercial services in the aerospace sector and among its future projects it has the launch and management of private space stations and platforms.
HPE looks to the Bologna technopole
Also Hewlett Packard Enterprisethe world‘s leading company for HPC/AI systems in data management and processing, looks at Data Valley of Emilia-Romagna, increasingly an international hub of digital, supercomputing and new technologies. At the HPE headquarters in Houston, President Bonaccini spoke about it with Antonio Neripresident and chief executive officer of the American multinational.
With HPLabs, a research center on data and digital technologies based in America, Costa Rica, India, Europe and SingaporeHPe is looking in particular at possible collaborations with technopole of Bologna, the universities and research centers of Emilia-Romagna. Another opportunity for the companies and universities present in the institutional mission of the Region, which met together with the managers of HPE. Also important is the meeting at the Rice Space Universitythe University where the first space science department was born in the United States in 1963.
>The aerospace supply chain in Emilia-Romagna (25.12 KB)