The growth in overall spending on Space, the increasing miniaturisation, particularly of electronics, and the sharp decrease in launch costs have led to an evolution of the sector in recent years. Aerospace is increasingly a unique sector, encompassing helicopters and drones, aircraft and missiles, carrier rockets and satellites, Space stations and, in the near future, lunar bases and satellite systems around the Moon. In the article “Satellites Increasingly Fundamental for the Defence of States and the Earth”, Leopoldo Benacchio takes a snapshot of the scenario and presents Leonardo's new approach, based on the integration of computing, Space and cybersecurity, with satellites equipped with computing and storage capacity, connected to each other with very high-speed communications. A power that opens up scenarios for both in-orbit data processing and forecasting thanks to artificial intelligence (AI).
Technological innovation, together with the desire to forge international strategic alliances, is one of the elements underpinning Leonardo's vision, which aims to create a global security champion “Made in Italy” by expanding the traditional concept of Defence to global security, which also includes energy and digital protection. In the article “Network of alliances to create a global security champion”, by Raoul de Forcade, Leonardo's CEO and General Manager Roberto Cingolani explains that “together with our customers and partners we have defined the main elements of the GCAP (Global Combat Air Programme), which will be enshrined in the formal signing of an industrial agreement.” A programme with a highly innovative technological contribution which, as Simone Ungaro, Leonardo's Chief Strategy & Innovation officer, points out, besides being a great technological challenge, also represents “an opportunity for the technological development and economic growth of the countries involved.”
Among the goals of international efforts in the Space field is a return to the Moon. The Artemis project, involving Leonardo, Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio, is aimed precisely at establishing a human and robotic presence on the Moon by 2050 with the aim of building dwellings, laboratories and infrastructure for Space exploration. In the article “The bet is to go back to the Moon to build laboratories and dwellings”, Leopoldo Benacchio explains how the “Lunar Economy” is set to grow to €142 billion by 2040, with the central contribution of Italian companies such as Telespazio, for the development of lunar communication and navigation systems that are essential for the development of a sustainable lunar economy.
