Strategic agreement for the space signed at the Assembly of the Italy-Japan Business Group chaired by Mauro Moretti

(To Leonardo-Finmeccanica)
25/11/16

Strategic agreement in the space sector signed today in Milan during the XXVIII General Assembly of the Italy-Japan Business Group (IJBG), chaired by Mauro Moretti, President of IJBG and CEO of Leonardo, and by the Japanese co-president Masami Iijima. In detail, the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) will cooperate in the management of disasters through the use of data from the respective satellite systems COSMOSkyMed and ALOS-2.

Based on the agreement signed today, the COSMO-SkyMed data will be used jointly and synergistically with those of the ALOS-2 radar satellite, in order to respond to emergency situations in the Italian and Japanese territories. The agreement also provides for joint research activities on risk management issues and the creation of a data archive relating to the respective countries.

The importance of this collaboration has been proven recently during the earthquake that hit central Italy, when, thanks to the ALOS-2 data combined with those of COSMO-SkyMed, it was possible to generate seismic deformation maps useful for the evaluation damage and support for rescue operations.

COSMO-SkyMed is the most ambitious Earth satellite observation program ever carried out by Italy for the prevention of environmental disasters, for the study of the earth's surface and for safety, and the first conceived for dual purposes. Leonardo plays a primary role in the program, both in the construction of satellites through Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales and Leonardo, prime industrial contractor for the program, on-board sensors and the ground segment (developed by the subsidiary Telespazio), as well as in the activities of command and control - operated by the Fucino Space Center -, as well as in the acquisition and distribution of satellite data for civil uses, and in the generation of value-added products, for which the Matera Space Center of eGEOS (joint venture between Telespazio and the Italian Space Agency).