“It’s a small step for the Moon, but a giant leap for Italy in space”. This is the comment, paraphrasing the historic phrase by Neil Armstrong, of one of the young technicians of Argotec, the company founded in 2013 and founded by its Managing Director, David Avino, an aerospace engineer with past experience in space centers and agencies, greets with enthusiasm the start of the Earth-Moon journey of their satellite. Made in Turin, on behalf of ASI (Italian Space Agency) at the Argotec laboratories, which have already created “LiciaCube”, intended instead for an asteroid, a small satellite, but stuffed with technology and electronics. He is the photojournalist of the historic, first mission of the Artemis Program, the one which, bearing the name of the mythology of Apollo’s sister, will bring the astronauts back to the Moon.
And in this first mission, which will take the Euro-American spacecraft Orion into lunar orbit and at a great distance from the Moon, although without a crew on board, ArgoMoon will take photos and videos of the spacecraft, coupled to the second stage of the large SLS carrier rocket. Like a drone traveling from the Earth to the Moon: “It’s a strong emotion, a dream come true” – comments David Avino – “we have taken care of and carefully prepared our little jewel, which has been here on our tables up to a few months ago.
And now, knowing that it is on its way to the Moon, with the most powerful rocket ever developed, and with this historic mission also fills us with pride. Because of all the 10 mini-satellites that will be released, ours is the only European one”. Enthusiasm in Argotec is really … skyrocketing, and with applause (moderate, the first stages are always very delicate …) when the powerful SLS detached from platform 39B of the Cape Canaveral base this morning at 7.48 Italian time. SLS then placed Orion and ArgoMoon in Earth orbit 12 minutes later, and the first big step was taken. The first mission following the historic Apollo Program, which from 1969 to 1972 brought 12 American astronauts to the lunar soil, plus another 12 in orbit around the selenic globe, will officially begin with the ignition of the J-2X liquid hydrogen and oxygen engine, which it will push the last stage and Orion on the translunar trajectory.
Enthusiasm and satisfaction were also echoed in Rome Tor Vergata, where ASI is based, and where an event was also organized at the space agency’s headquarters: “ASI confirms Italy’s role and prestige alongside the major space agencies – says Mario Cosmo, ASI Director of Science and Research – and thanks to the ArgoMoon mission, Italy is on board the first deep space mission of a vehicle designed to accommodate astronauts since the days of the Apollo missions. first of a series of ASI activities in the framework of an important national participation in the Artemis lunar exploration program”.
The Italian mini-satellite will be released during the Earth-Moon journey and as it approaches the natural satellite of the Earth, with the aim of taking significant images of the Space Launch System launcher, useful for NASA to verify the success of its mission. Another all-national purpose will be to validate technologies for applications on nano-satellites and in particular on telecommunications and attitude and orbital control systems in deep space, as well as the resistance of components and units to radiation, typical of these environments.
ArgoMoon is a cube of only 30 x 20 x 10 cm. This small volume contains the same capabilities of a large satellite with technologically advanced miniaturized subsystems, capable of withstanding the difficult conditions of deep space. Through software based on artificial intelligence, developed entirely in the Argotec laboratories, the satellite is able to recognize objects in its field of vision, autonomously implement orbital and attitude maneuvers to maintain the correct distance and capture high-definition images. technical value but also of strong public impact: “With the Hawk platform developed for the ArgoMoon project, we have given shape to a new concept of microsatellite for space exploration. It is a platform, the first of its kind, capable of reaching high performance of reliability and autonomy in small spaces”, adds Avino.
The return to the Moon, expected and hoped for for half a century (in December it will be 50 years since the last Apollo 17 landing), has begun. With a lot of Italy on board. In fact, in addition to ArgoMoon, there is a strong industrial participation (with Leonardo and Thales Alenia Space) for the creation of the Orion ESM service module, in the context of the NASA-ESA cooperation. It is the vital part of the spaceship, which contains all the equipment for the operation and life of the spaceship and, from 2024, for that of the astronauts who will travel from the Earth to the Moon and back, without landing on the moon, which instead will take place in 2025 with the Artemis-3 mission.