Agreement provides for the construction of a base for space travel launches in the southern region of the country
Italy is set to receive a spaceport of sorts for launching commercial space flights. A partnership between Virgin Galactic, which plans to launch space flights, and Italian companies is expected to provide the southern region of the country with a base dedicated to this purpose.
The agreement was signed with Sitael, the main Italian private company working in the field of space travel, and with Altec, a company that belongs to the Italian Space Agency in partnership with Thales Alenia Space.
The “spaceport” will function like an airport, but with destinations, let's say, more distant. The site's platforms could be used for the takeoff of rockets or aircraft focused on space tourism, as Virgin Galactic intends to do. Research can also be conducted there, hence the Italian space agency's interest in participating in the project.
The announcement of the partnership was made by Virgin Galactics, which is owned by eccentric millionaire Sir Richard Branson. In a statement published on its website, the company says that it took two years of negotiations, which involved regulatory aspects reviewed by the Italian government – after all, it is a new field of work.
“From the Renaissance to modern space science, Italy has been home to great inventors and advanced ideas that have shaped the human experience,” Branson said in the release. He even speculates that the agreement could lead to the launch of the first human being on a space tourism trip.
The agreement provides for the construction of the space airport in the Grottaglie region, in Puglia, located in southern Italy. Virgin Galactic, for its part, is expected to build a space vehicle system.
By Época Negócios
