THE SPACE AS A RESEARCH LAB: ITALY AIMS FOR THE NEW SPACE ECONOMY

“My vision for the space economy is made up of two elements: container and content. The container is the infrastructure, such as rockets, spaceships and space stations. The content, instead, includes everything that can be done with and within these tools: experiments, applications, collaborations, also involving companies from traditional sectors. Indeed, these ventures in Space could allow companies to test solutions for challenges related to their activities on Earth”.
Andrea Pontremoli is the CEO of Dallara, a historic Italian company specialized in the design and production of high-performance racing cars, which has also long been developing solutions for the aerospace and defense sectors.

>> Mr. Pontremoli, the new space economy was among the topics explored at Ecomondo and it is a strategic sector for Italy, as demonstrated by the funds allocated by the PNRR and the Italian participation in Axiom's AX-3 Mission. How is research structured at the national level?
We set up working groups, as requested by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers:
Leonardo coordinates the container part, while Dallara follows the content part. We are still at an early stage that requires a lot of basic research. The issue is complex, because it is not easy for companies outside the aerospace industry to understand how they can derive value from possible investments. The return is not immediate and this is why public incentives are needed: Italy – or the European Union - should build the stations and guarantee transportation. With this, companies could invest in experiments without bearing the high travel costs. To be even clearer, I always use the example of the highway: we cannot ask companies to build an highway and then pay for it. The construction is up to the public, which then can ask for a toll”.

>> In this sense the United States is ahead.
In the United States, the public and private sectors work side by side, while here we still have to find a proper way to do so. American private companies invest, but they also receive substantial state funding: just think of Musk's early launches, all backed by NASA. Without that support, it would have taken a long time to see any return. Following this logic, NASA shifted from being a manufacturer to becoming a certifying body. This opened up the market, and the number of private companies has multiplied: SpaceX, Axiom, Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic.

>> What model can funnel private investment?
We are looking for a credible business case. Since the ISS will be decommissioned by 2031, new modules are already being built.  These are more habitable, so better suited for tourism and industrial production. As an example on the latter, Space allows for the creation of lightweight alloys that are impossible to obtain on Earth, or for more efficient testing of antibiotics thanks to a perfectly sterile environment. However, this requires facilities designed for such purposes. My dream is an Italian module made available to Italian or foreign companies, like the CERN in Geneva, which was built by the public but used by private individuals when they need to carry out experiments. In sum, Space can be a new area for research and experimentation, but the infrastructure — the station and transportation — must be provided by the public sector. In this way, companies will be able to travel to the space station, do their studies and then return. Apart from the astronauts acting as pilots, other people will not need any particular training, as demonstrated by actor William Shatner, Captain Kirk of Star Trek, and the young student Oliver Daemen, flying with Blue Origin at 90 and 18 years of age respectively.

>> What would be the cost of building an Italian module?
The construction costs of an Italian module  would be around 400-500 million. These are not hyperbolic figures. The transportation infrastructure can be rented, from SpaceX to Blue Origin. It should also be noted that mission costs have decreased: the Space Shuttle used to cost one billion per mission, we have now gone down to 40-45 million.

>> How does the global landscape of private launches looks like today? Everyone is moving: the United States, China, India, the European Union...
More cohesion is needed. This is because in Space we are still all together: in the ISS the security is up to the Russians. As long as we do not consider it only from a military point of view, Space unites us. It could be a good way to unite the world, but it takes some effort. For example, China is building its own stations and launching its own mission to the Moon, but if each country proceeds independently, the risk is having many different systems that are very expensive and not interoperable.

>> What are the projects currently being carried out in Italy?
Progress is being made on several fronts, all driven by the idea of discovering something new that could be useful on Earth as well. At Dallara, we are testing new materials that could also be used in hostile environments on our planet. The latest experiment was in January, during Walter Villadei's mission. It's not just about construction materials, but also, for example, clothing: we need fabrics that can withstand gamma rays and high-energy neutrons. These could then be used to make gowns for doctors who work with CAT scans in hospitals. After Luna Rossa, Prada is collaborating with Axiom to develop a moon suit. Shoes are a significant problem: in Space the temperature variation is extreme, since it goes from -100 in the shade to +200 degrees in the sun: a sufficiently resistant material must be found. For what regards agriculture, Barilla is working on growing vegetables in space. If we can grow carrots or potatoes on the Moon, we will be able to do it also in the Sahara. When it comes to nutrition it is not enough to think about pills containing the right nutrients - taste, texture and smell, in short the pleasantness of food also count.
Finally, GVM Assistance is working on telemedicine and telemetry: how does the body react to change? Remote monitoring systems could also be useful on Earth, to follow patients at home.

>> Space finance chapter: is there any investor?
In the USA this is now a must: the startup Axiom raised 2.5 billion in a few months. Conversely, in Italy we are close to zero and Europe is also lagging behind. An important aspect is the lack of storytelling, also because there is no public strategy that can give guarantees to investors. The United States, on the other hand, has a clear and shared plan.

>> Every narrative needs an audience. Do Italians have a vision of Space? In the past Musk made people dream with his ventures, while now he is disliked by many...
This is the point: we must become good storytellers. This is why I insist on the difference between container and content, because it helps people understand the potential and sparks their imagination.
Let us think that the Americans, by going to the Moon, created 300,000 patents, from sunglasses with Polaroid filter from sticking to the GPS we have on our smartphones. They invested without knowing what they would find. When they asked Kennedy why they should go to the Moon, he said: ”I do not know. All I know is that it is very, very difficult”. That's the key: investing in what is difficult, because that is how you promote progress. In short, constraint drives innovation.

Article written by Emanuele Pompon and Maria Carla Rota
 

This Blog is an editorial project developed by Ecomondo with Materia Rinnovabile.