The Undersecretary of Defense Angelo Tofalo spoke at the event, organized by the Italian Air Force to systematize knowledge and technological projects
The first national Workshop on Stratospheric Platforms was held today, Friday 5 April, in Rome, at the Aviator's House, an event organized by the General Office for Space of the Air Force to start a discussion, together with representatives of the Institutions, the academic world, research and companies, on possible lines of action and forms of collaboration in the development of this innovative technological interface in the aerospace field.
The objective of the meeting was to officially open a discussion table on the topic, extended to all the main national players, carry out a survey of the key technologies in this context and lay the foundations for reaching, in extremely limited times, formulating a high level requirement for a stratospheric platform of national interest, aggregating the institutional demand for the services that can be provided and exploring the possibilities of financing the preliminary studies with funds deriving from the space economy and within the framework of an Italian-led project included in the context of European permanent structured cooperation.
The Workshop was opened by the Chief of Staff, Air Force General Alberto Rosso, and saw the presence of the Military Councilor of the President of the Council of Ministers, Team Admiral Carlo Massagli, of the President of the National Research Council, Prof. Massimo Inguscio , of Dr. Roberto Borsa, representative of the Italian Aerospace Research Center, of Prof. Fernando Ferroni, President of the National Institute of Nuclear Physics and of the company representatives: Thales Alenia Space Italia, Space Italy, Leonardo.
In his speech, General Rosso emphasized that: “stratospheric platforms are a piece that can integrate the capacities offered by satellites, satellite constellations and UAVs, which is placed in an intermediate band and which has characteristics of flexibility of costs and permanence that fits well to integrate the fundamental skills that a country can develop ”. Furthermore, the Chief of Staff of the Italian Air Force emphasized that: “today's meeting is in continuity with a study and an agreement signed in December, together with the world of industry and academia, to develop all those that are the potential of Aviolancio of small satellites by airplanes ”.
The works were closed by Undersecretary of State for Defense Angelo Tofalo, who in his speech remarked that: "The stratospheric platforms represent one of the lines of development of the strategy