Meetings continue for the Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy (Italian Mimit) and Delegate Authority for Space and Aerospace Policies, Adolfo Urso, with counterparts and other institutional figures in the space sector, ahead of the upcoming ESA ministerial in Bremen (26-27 November).

After meeting the French Minister for Industry, Sébastien Martin, the Minister for Higher Education and Research, Philippe Baptiste, and the President of the French space agency, Francois Jacq (see AVIONEWS), Urso held discussions with Liz Lloyd, Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and at the Department for Business and Trade of the United Kingdom.

“Italy and the United Kingdom are leading players in European space. Now we must strengthen industrial and technological cooperation to foster ever more global champions capable of guaranteeing autonomy, security and innovation to the continent", the minister said. "The agreement between Leonardo, Thales and Airbus (see AVIONEWS) paves the way: a model of European collaboration that we must pursue also with London, capitalizing on our excellence and a shared vision for space", he concluded.

During the talks, Urso and Lloyd stressed the importance of the upcoming ministerial conference of the European Space Agency (ESA), scheduled to take place in Bremen in November, focusing in particular on several key challenges, including defining the ESA budget, its allocation between mandatory and optional programmes, as well as Earth observation and space exploration initiatives.

The minister also highlighted the need to significantly increase the launch cadence of the Vega and Ariane launchers and other new launch vehicles and spaceports. Urso also underlined the importance of developing a larger and more technologically advanced European low Earth orbit constellation capable of ensuring strategic autonomy and competitiveness in the global satellite services market.