Mola di Bari, Apulia, June 19, 2020, – In the presence of Hon. Riccardo Fraccaro, Undersecretary of State at the Presidency of the Italian Council of Ministers,  of Giorgio Saccoccia,  President of Italian Space Agency (ASI), and of Vito Pertosa, founder of Angel Group , the companies Sitael, Thales Alenia Space Italia, Leonardo and Airbus signed the long-term agreement for the commercialization and industrialization of PLATiNO Programme.

The agreement represents the answer to the world market’s interest in the innovative ‘high-tech space small satellite platform’, that is the core of the PLATiNO programme; moreover, it prepares the temporary grouping of companies to seize the new emerging business opportunities.. Financed by ASI and the Italian Government with an investment of more than EUR 100 million, PLATiNO programme defines the achievement of the in-flight qualification with two missions scheduled in 2022 and 2023.

PLATiNO is the all-electric multi-purpose 200kg small satellite platform, deployable in constellation and suitable for a wide range of multi-mission applications (e.g. Optical, SAR, Telecom, etc.). It is perfectly compliant with the Italian VEGA launcher, whose SSMS (Small Spacecraft Mission Service) dispenser will get qualified during the launch scheduled in the next days from the Kourou base in French Guyana.

Therefore, this agreement , combined with the launch of VEGA, is an additional step forward for the Italian New Space Economy and confirms its strategic importance in the global competition for space activities.

On this occasion, Hon. Riccardo Fraccaro claimed ’The agreement signed today is extremely important since it is giving birth to an innovative constellation of PLATiNO satellites, completely made in Italy. While we are placing PLATiNO technology at the highest level of innovation on a global scale, we are doing it as a cohesive team involving Industries, Italian Space Agency and Italian Government.’

President of Italian Space Agency (ASI), Giorgio Saccoccia, announced: ‘It is a personal as well as institutional satisfaction for me to witness today the signing of this PLATiNO long-term agreement programme. I have followed this project since the beginning: PLATiNO is a versatile, multi-mission, high-tech, and all-Italian platform that will enable our industry to offer competitive services in several space applications in the next years.’

The founder of Angel Group, Vito Pertosa, said: ‘This is another important step that shows how the government attention to Italian-owned industry can guarantee both high technology and employment that grows over time. Considering the tough time in which we are living nowadays, we are proud, with several Italian organizations, to be able to excel in many sectors worldwide’.

The event was also an opportunity to show the guests the area where the new SITAEL production extension will be built starting form September. The new facility will have a total area of 1,200 square meters and will host the newest Clean Room for the development of latest-generation satellite platforms, such as PLATiNO, with a production capacity of up to 10 satellites per year.