Italy and the U.K. are moving to beef up their space programs despite the likelihood that near-term funding will be limited.

Mariastella Gelmini, the Italian minister in charge of space, revealed a new strategic plan here, to be submitted for approval in late September, that would extend funding and program visibility for the country’s civil space program to 10 years, instead of three years currently. She also affirmed that Italian space agency ASI will likely be spared the brunt of across-the-board cuts being imposed by the government to help reign in Italy’s huge budget deficit, on the grounds that sustained space investment is a top strategic priority, and generator of future economic growth.

Around €7 billion ($9 billion) in funding is expected to be earmarked for the 10-year plan, which would be roughly equivalent to current spending levels. The current three-year plan, which ends in 2011, calls for annual spending of €730-776 million, including a carry-forward of €400 million that had been earmarked for the previous plan but never spent.

In addition, Gelmini confirmed that the Italian government will merge ASI and aerospace research agency CIRA. The minister stressed that the move was not a reflection on ASI, which she says is well-run, but an effort to move R&D and program management functions closer together, as at other leading space agencies. CIRA, which among other things runs the USV hypersonic reentry program, had originally been slated to be carved up or scrapped.

Enrico Saggese, the ASI president, says the new space plan, which took two years to craft, will improve the agency’s ability to reinforce existing initiatives and take on new ones. Among the top priorities are expanding Italy’s radar Earth observation know-how—built around the CosmoSkyMed program—as well as science missions, next-generation satellite communications and development of a new liquid upper stage and improved solid propulsion motors for the Vega light launcher. Vega is to fly its first mission in early 2011.

Military space spending will be under pressure, reflecting a deep cut planned for Italy’s defense budget. However, Saggese says the defense ministry insists it will contribute to funding of the second-generation CosmoSkyMed constellation program in line with its contribution for the first-generation satellites. The fourth and final satellite in the first-generation network will be launched from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., at the end of October.

Another major goal of the new strategic plan will be to beef up ties with other space agencies. Gelmini met during the Farnborough air show with NASA administrator Charles Bolden to discuss Italian involvement in extending the operational life of International Space Station and new opportunities for flying Italian instruments on NASA scientific missions. She also struck a deal with Britain’s new minister in charge of space, David Willets, for a bilateral agreement with the U.K., the British minister told reporters here. The agreement will be centered on cooperation in R&D.

Like his Italian counterpart, Willets says inter-agency and industry collaboration will be central to the space ­strategy of the new U.K. coalition government. He also met with Bolden, signing an agreement to expand links in exploration and space and Earth science. Willets also planned to conclude a new bilateral with Russia. Intended to replace a pact dating back to Soviet times, the new agreement will focus on commercial issues such as reducing Russian import duties and promoting the use of Britain’s small satellite technology, and piggybacking on Russian science missions.

The minister acknowledges that with the government’s planned austerity plan, a budget increase is unlikely. Indeed, it’s by no means certain the new U.K. Space Agency will not have to take a spending cut, like other departments (AW&ST July 19, p. 126). However, Willets will seek to realign policy so that it’s more favorable to space initiatives—a key demand of the space community—including streamlining export controls, establishing an avenue for export guarantees and facilitating and centralizing cross-government demand for space services.

Top priorities will include examining how satellites could help improve broadband access in rural areas, and in particular seeing if the U.K. has a need for its own operational Earth-observation network. The remote-sensing system would likely be patterned after EADS Paradigm’s Skynet 5 satellite telecom system, which provides secure communications to British armed forces on a private funding basis, with the Defense Ministry as anchor tenant. However, a public-private partnership similar to Germany’s TerraSAR-X/Tandem-X system, in which the government funds a portion of the capability directly, could also be considered, Willets says.

A £5-million ($7.6-million) Earth-observation clearinghouse, announced here, could help support the initiative. The clearinghouse will be set up in Harwell, England, next to a new innovation center established there last year by the European Space Agency. ESA said last week it was awarding TerraSAR-X operator Infoterra a €7.5-million award to install a multimission processing and archiving facility at the center.

According to Paul Brooks, business director for Earth observation and science at Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd., which would have a lead role in the remote-sensing initiative, the system would likely consist of a constellation of small 1-meter resolution wide-swath optical imaging satellites, with maximum reuse of existing subsystems, suited for the low-cost, rapid revisit and high data capacity requirements of most users.

A synthetic aperture radar capability could be added later for all-weather or maritime surveillance needs. Later this year, SSTL will roll out a breadboard model of a radar, developed with parent company Astrium, that Brooks says will cut SAR costs by an order of magnitude. The partners hope to convince the U.K. government to help fund a demonstration to show the feasibility of the concept, which could be available around 2013.

Photo Credit: EADS