“Italy goes to Mars!” With this announcement, Teodoro Valente, president of the Italian Space Agency (ASI), unveiled the signing of an unprecedented agreement with SpaceX, Elon Musk's company. The partnership involves the transport of Italian scientific experiments on the first Starship mission aimed at delivering payloads to the red planet.

Experiments on board: from Earth to Mars in six months

On the Starship spacecraft, there will be payloads for research activities in crucial sectors: plant cultivation in Martian conditions, measurement of cosmic radiation, and weather monitoring. The interplanetary journey will last about six months, providing essential data to assess the feasibility of future human missions.

A planet similar to Earth, but hostile to life

Despite the similarities with our planet, Mars presents an extreme environment: an atmosphere rich in carbon dioxide, temperatures with extreme fluctuations, and high-energy radiation. Science and technology are indispensable tools to overcome these challenges and ensure habitability in space.

Italy at the center of the new space race

The agreement with SpaceX is part of a broader strategy that sees Italy as a key player in the Artemis program for the human return to the Moon. The lunar habitation module built by Thales Alenia Space Italia will be launched in 2033 and will serve as the core of a permanent settlement.