Italian Space Agency
| Agenzia Spaziale Italiana | |
 |
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| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | January 1, 1988 |
| Jurisdiction | Italian government |
| Headquarters | Rome, Italy |
| Employees | 200 |
| Annual budget | €1.3 billion ($1.8 billion) in 2014 |
| Agency executives |
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| Website | www.asi.it |
The Italian Space Agency (Italian: Agenzia Spaziale Italiana; ASI) is a government agency established in 1988 to fund, regulate and coordinate space exploration activities in Italy. Operating under the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR), the agency cooperates with numerous national and international entities who are active in aerospace research and technology, and with the Italian President of the Council of Ministers.
Nationally, ASI is responsible for both drafting the National Aerospace Plan and ensuring it is carried out. To do this the agency operates as the owner/coordinator of a number of Italian space research agencies and assets such as CIRA as well as organising the calls and opportunities process for Italian industrial contractors on spaceflight projects. Internationally, the ASI provides Italy's delegation to the Council of the European Space Agency and to its subordinate bodies as well as representing the country’s interests in foreign collaborations.
ASI's main headquarters are located in Rome, Italy, and the agency also has direct control over three operational centres. The Centre for Space Geodesy (CGS) located in Matera in Italy. As well as these ASI has access to its own spaceport, the Broglio Space Centre (formerly the San Marco Equatorial Range) on the coastal sublittoral of Kenya, currently used only as a communications ground station. In 2008 ASI's annual budget was approximately €820 m and directly employed around 200 workers.
Following a decision by the Council of Ministers, Enrico Saggese became president of the agency on July 3, 2009, to quit on February 2014 amid a corruption scandal, and be replaced by Aldo Sandulli. Fabrizio Tuzi presently is the organisation's general manager.
Activities started officially in 1988 but the agency drew extensively on the work of earlier national organisations as well as the consolidated experience of the many Italian scientists that had been investigating space and astronautics since the end of the 19th century. Some of the most outstanding names in Italian space exploration since its inception were the following:
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