From access to space to AI, the Italian aerospace supply chain is being tested by global competition.
Innovation, strategic autonomy, national security, and protection of production chains were at the center of the conference “The contribution of the aerospace sector to Italian and European technological sovereignty,” organized on May 26 by the Istituto Affari Internazionali (Iai) and the National Aerospace Technology Cluster (Ctna) in collaboration with the Fondazione Roma.
During the meeting, representatives from institutions, industry, and academia discussed the role of aerospace in European competitiveness and the building of greater technological sovereignty.
Among the topics raised during the conference was the Bromo project. Last October 23 Airbus, Leonardo, and Thales signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the aim of unifying their respective space activities into a new company, code-named Project Bromo, indicated by Leonardo as an example of European industrial cooperation to strengthen technological sovereignty in the space sector. According to the Italian group, the program aims to create critical mass and common European capabilities in a sector characterized by competition accelerated by artificial intelligence.
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AEROSPACE: A KEY SECTOR FOR INNOVATION
The aerospace sector confirms itself as one of the strategic areas for technological, industrial, and geopolitical development in Italy and Europe.
Cristina Leone, president of Ctna, highlighted that “Technological challenges increasingly require integration of skills and networking.” According to Leone, Ctna is “an innovation hub where each territory maintains its identity while sharing a common goal.”
The president of Ctna also emphasized the importance of mapping the industrial supply chain, defined as “an industrial policy tool.” “Losing a critical competence can mean losing technological sovereignty,” she explained, recalling that Italy has “a territorially distributed aerospace supply chain with hundreds of SMEs with industrial excellences,” considered “a strategic asset of the country.”
TECHNOLOGICAL SOVEREIGNTY IN THE NEW GLOBAL SCENARIO
The new director of the Istituto Affari Internazionali, Marco Simoni, highlighted the growing weight of technological bottlenecks in the international scenario. “Tariffs and the Strait of Hormuz, the use of technological bottlenecks is something unknown until a few years ago,” he said, explaining that today the issue is crucial due to the number of sectors involved and the protection of the European model.
According to Iai vice president Michele Nones, “with digital technology the speed of innovation has become exponential and with the use of AI it is destined to become super-exponential.” An evolution that, in his view, is changing the international geopolitical framework, marking “the shift from the force of law to the law of force.”
The Iai vice president also pointed to the “transatlantic divergence” as the most relevant element for Europe, emphasizing the need to build greater European industrial interdependence. “We cannot all do the same things,” he stated, advocating the need for “a form of specialization at the European level.”
DEFENSE TESTED BY THE CHALLENGE OF COOPERATION
Recalling the dual-use nature of the aerospace sector, Luisa Riccardi, Deputy National Director of Armaments at the Ministry of Defense, recalled how within the EU the establishment of the Defis Directorate-General of the European Commission and the appointment in 2024 of Commissioner Andrius Kubilius are signs of growing integration between space and defense at the European level.
Consider the case of Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet constellation, cited by Luca Salomone, director general of the Italian Space Agency (Asi), as an emblematic example of tools born for civilian uses, also employed in strategic and military contexts.
Riccardi described the aerospace ecosystem as “complex,” reiterating that “operational capability and sovereignty are not two alternative needs but both must be protected.” For this reason, “cooperation is not an option but a strategic imperative.”
At the same time, Riccardi recalled that “so far the fear has been the sovereignty of others that we have suffered in the field of defense and national security.” In her speech, the Deputy National Director of Armaments also highlighted the problem of so-called “black boxes,” systems that prevent states from independently updating acquired technologies. Hence the need for “monitored and selective” cooperation, able to enhance national skills and meet Italian operational needs.
ACCESS TO SPACE AND STRATEGIC AUTONOMY
According to the Asi DG, “the prerequisite for strategic autonomy lies precisely in technological sovereignty.”
Salomone reiterated the role of Italy and France in European access to space – respectively with the Vega C launcher (the rocket produced by the Italian Avio) and Ariane 6 –, considered a central element also by the National Space Policy Document. “Securing access to space is fundamental,” he said, recalling the dual use of civil satellite constellations for security purposes.
Salomone also drew attention to foreign direct investments in the European aerospace sector and the need to protect the supply chain.
BETWEEN AEROSPACE AND TECHNOLOGICAL SOVEREIGNTY, THE EUROPEAN GAME OF THE BROMO PROJECT
Turning to the industrial perspective, Massimo Comparini, director of Leonardo’s Space division, explained that in the aerospace sector “Italy has been quite good at creating a system with continuity of investments and strategic vision,” emphasizing how “the market has rewarded what our country has managed to do.” According to Comparini, however, “the hard part starts now,” because the space sector is “a sector of very high strategic sensitivity, where critical investment masses are impressive.” In this regard, he recalled that the United States Space Force is discussing “a budget of 170 billion dollars.”
The Leonardo manager highlighted the need to find “the balance point between technological sovereignty and European capabilities,” defining it as “an obligatory path” that sees Italy “not in the background, but in the foreground.”
On the Bromo project, he noted that “when I hear those wondering if Bromo is worth it with the French at 70% and Italians at 30%, it shows a limited knowledge of what Italy does,” explaining that the program represents “an example of what the European space industry can try to do” to achieve a balance between technological sovereignty, European capability, and critical mass. Comparini clarified that the Bromo project “is not meant to compete with Starlink,” because “Starlink is something else.”
THE STATUS OF LEONARDO’S LOW EARTH ORBIT CONSTELLATION
The director of Leonardo’s Space division then recalled Italy’s leadership role in Earth observation. Comparini recalled that over a year ago Leonardo decided to invest “half a billion euros to create an Earth observation constellation,” intended to enrich the database built over twenty years through the Cosmo-SkyMed satellites and to further evolve with the Iride constellation.
“Today spatial data is fundamental for that duality that was recalled during the debate,” Comparini said, explaining that the investments will have impacts not only on Leonardo’s space alliance – which includes Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio – but “throughout the Italian industrial supply chain.”
Comparini also reiterated the goal of demonstrating that “even in Europe and Italy it is possible to be fast and competitive, it is not necessarily required to operate a new space company in the United States.” In this context, he announced the consolidation of a new launch window in 2027, open for about six months, during which the first orbital plane of the new constellation will be released. The second orbital plane is instead expected by the end of 2028, with full operation in 2029.
“We can be optimistic that the energy and capitalization of the Italian space system will be valued also in the coming years,” Comparini concluded, stating that “the example of European consolidation could be a valid example of enhancing the Italian space system.”
THE EUROPEAN CHALLENGE IN THE NEW SPACE ECONOMY
Finally, Andrea Mascaretti, president of the Parliamentary Intergroup for the space economy, recalled the paradigm shift determined by the involvement of private actors in the US space sector. “NASA stimulated private involvement: SpaceX and Blue Origin among the first, and there the paradigm changed,” he explained.
According to Mascaretti, Europe suffers from greater bureaucratic slowness and lower industrial efficiency compared to global competitors, while competition increasingly focuses on artificial intelligence and strategic raw materials.
“Italy boasts its own peculiar ingenuity,” Mascaretti stated, emphasizing the need to “create a system.” “The Italian challenge for technological sovereignty must focus on excellences and future generations,” concluded the president of the Parliamentary Intergroup for the space economy.
