December 19th, Rome, Italy– today SITAEL and Italian Space Agency signed the Prime contract for the PLATiNO Programme.

PLATiNO represents the first Italian answer to the Space Economy, aiming to the development of a new generation of Multi-purpose 200kg small satellites for innovative multi-mission applications.

“By signing this contract – said the President of the Italian Space Agency, Roberto Battiston – we have settled the foundations of the development for a competitive asset on the international market, by developing production skills for high-tech mini-satellites based on components designed and manufactured in Italy at industrial level. With the PLATiNO program, ASI enters the satellite segment that today is growing worldwide, enabling a wide range of missions, from telecommunications, to earth observation and scientific missions, which are characterized by low cost, an extremely competitive time to market and a natural propensity to develop satellite constellations, the great challenge of the next years in space”.

For this space programme, SITAEL has built up an industrial team maximizing the synergies among the high-level key competences and proven heritage of the most important Italian Space industries, such as Thales Alenia Space, Space Engineering and Leonardo.

“The contract for the creation of PLATiNO – claimed the General Director of the Italian Space Agency, Anna Sirica – will provide our Country with several new technologies that can be used extensively on other segments of satellite systems developed by the European industry”.

PLATiNO is the first All-electric Mini-Platform suitable for a wide range of missions (Hi-Res Optical, Mini-SAR, Telecom, etc.), deployable in constellation and enabled by a high degree of technological innovation, constituting a very breakthrough in the space landscape.

SITAEL Chief Executive Officer Nicola Zaccheo said: “We are very proud to sign this contract, being PLATiNO a very important National Program in which SITAEL and its partners, together with the Italian Space Agency, will develop a state-of-the art small satellite platform with very high performances at a very competitive cost. This Program is a cornerstone in the small satellite market, the most promising sector for the Space Economy”.