On the surface, it sounds like an announcement ‘for experts in the field’. In reality, it is a potential revision of the lunar exploration programmes – announced by NASA – with strong industrial repercussions in Europe and in Turin in particular. Last Tuesday, the American agency announced that it had cancelled plans to set up a space station in lunar orbit, as envisaged by the Artemis programme.
It is one of the most complex and articulated programmes, in the field of space exploration, ever undertaken by Europe and the United States, so much so as to open up a new phase in the space economy, the Lunar Economy. It is a programme in which Italian expertise in the field of orbiting habitat modules is at the forefront, with the Thales Alenia Space plant (a joint venture between Leonardo, 33%, and Thales, 67%) in Turin.
An open scenario, therefore, and a risky one for the Made in Italy aerospace industry. After the setback of the exploration programme directed at the Red Planet, Exomars, first because of the defection of the Americans and then because of the ‘cumbersome’ presence of the Russians, now it is once again the American front that is changing the cards on the table and putting the project for the Gateway space station in lunar orbit, part of the Artemis programme, on the bench.
Holding the line on relations with the Americans directly is the European Space Agency with ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher, who attended the Ignition event organised by NASA on 24 March in Washington. “ESA is in close consultation with its member states, international partners and European industry to assess the implications of the announcement,” says the European Space Agency.
The European contribution with respect to the Gateway, in particular, provides for the supply of fundamental modules such as the I-Hab, intended to house the astronauts, and Esprit, designed to ensure communications, refuelling and logistical support for the station. The potential damage for Italian industry, and in particular for Thales Alenia Space, would be twofold: on the one hand, the design and production work on the I-Hab module would be lost, and on the other, the contract for the design of the airlock in the hands of the United Arab Emirates (Mohammad Bin Rashid Space Centre as prime contractor), also assigned to Thales Alenia Space, would also fall.