On the occasion of 2025 Italian National Space Day on December 16, Leonardo, with e-GEOS (a joint-venture 20% owned by the Italian Space Agency and 80% by Telespazio, Leonardo Group) and Telespazio (67% owned by Leonardo and 33% by Thales) present the eighteenth "Love Planet Earth" calendar, representing environmental sustainability through images taken by the COSMO-SkyMed satellites operated by the Italian Space Agency and the Italian Ministry of Defence.

The 2026 Love Planet Earth calendar proposes a journey across the agricultural landscapes of the Mediterranean as seen from Space, highlighting their beauty and fragility as well as the challenges of growing demand for healthy and accessible food, climate change, water resource management, and the need for resilient agricultural practices.

 The calendar was presented during an event entitled "The Roots of the Future: the contribution of Space to agriculture in the Mediterranean", hosted at the Med-Or Italian Foundation’s headquarters. The meeting explored the potential of the most advanced geo-information solutions to support sustainable agriculture and the development of rural communities. Speakers included the President of Med-Or Italian Foundation, Marco Minniti; the Deputy Director General of FAO, Maurizio Martina; the President of the Italian Space Agency, Teodoro Valente; the Managing Director of Leonardo's Space Division, Massimo Claudio Comparini; and the CEO of e-GEOS and SVP of Telespazio's Geoinformation Line of Business, C. Milena A. Lerario.

In the wake of the United Nations' proclamation of 2026 as the International Year of the Woman Farmer, the calendar shines a spotlight on stories of resilience, tradition and innovation, where community, research and technology collaborate to ensure sustainable and accessible food systems. The initiative draws attention to rural development projects that support agricultural communities and women's entrepreneurship. The stories are told through the extraordinary images acquired by the COSMO-SkyMed satellites constellation, a programme of the Italian Space Agency and the Italian Ministry of Defence, developed with Leonardo Group technologies with images processed by e-GEOS.

The visual journey of Love Planet Earth 2026 crosses the most evocative agricultural landscapes of the Mediterranean, including:

The Nile Delta, in Egypt, the cradle of agriculture as far back as ancient Egyptian times and now threatened by rising sea levels and increasing soil salinity;

Ginosa Marina, in Puglia, where tradition and innovation coexist in agricultural models integrating knowledge handed down from the past, regenerative soil management, and organic and biodynamic agriculture;

Tirana, Albania, where floods and water scarcity put crops, infrastructure and irrigation systems at risk;

Arborea, in Sardinia, where innovative solutions for the reuse of irrigated wastewater reduce the pressure on traditional water resources and offer greater resilience to periods of drought.

Thanks to the endorsement of the Med-Or Italian Foundation, Love Planet Earth 2026 forms part of a broader programme of international collaboration aimed at supporting agricultural communities in the Mediterranean area with cutting-edge technologies and skills. The Med-Or Italian Foundation promotes dialogue and cooperation between Italy and the countries of the Enlarged Mediterranean through initiatives involving institutions, companies, universities and research centres.

In this scenario, the calendar testifies to the potential of geoinformation for understanding the evolution of the territory and guiding effective actions: satellites can monitor crops and soils, optimise water use, and analyse the effects of drought and extreme events, supporting sustainable agricultural practices. Earth observation technologies thus become fundamental tools for integrating farmers’ traditional knowledge with modern solutions, favouring more resilient and sustainable food systems.

Love Planet Earth also represents a central element of the commitment of Leonardo, Telespazio, and e-GEOS to sustainability, recognizing the strategic role of Space in protecting the planet and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.