Rome – Nov. 8, 2023 – The Gran Sasso Tech Foundation (GST) – a nonprofit research organization stemmed from the collaboration between the Gran Sasso Science Institute and Thales Alenia Space (a joint venture between Thales 67% and Leonardo 33%) – and the Secretariat General of Defense and National Armaments Directorate have signed a collaboration agreement to develop joint scientific activities and further the development of knowledge assets.
The agreement was signed at Palazzo Guidoni in Rome by Professor Fernando Ferroni, president of the Gran Sasso Tech Foundation, and Generale di Corpo d’Armata Luciano Portolano, Secretary General of Defense and National Armaments Director.
Institutional collaboration will cover research, education and training programs in the areas of space technologies, semiconductor devices and software, and will ensure the wide dissemination of results through publication and knowledge transfer for the benefit of the scientific community, of the defense and industrial supply chain, and of the national system overall.
“Gran Sasso Tech is a reference point for scientific space missions, thanks to the satellite architecture 2MF, also used for the IRIDE constellation”-said Professor Ferroni, President of the Gran Sasso Tech Foundation. – “I thank General Portolano and the Ministry of Defense that have made it possible to establish an important synergy on innovative technologies, from silicon technologies to AI and Earth observation, which are necessary to address fundamental challenges for our future.”
General Portolano expressed great satisfaction with the launch of the collaboration, which represents for national defense an important opportunity to increase the availability of professional and technological capabilities in the areas of space technologies, semiconductor devices and software for space applications. He also highlited how the agreement between the Foundation and the Secretariat General of Defense, each with its own specific field, will result in significant strenghtening of knowledge and skills transfer for the benefit of the national system.
