PhotoThe launch of the Italian Cosmo SkyMed satellite, the second of the new generation, promoted by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the Ministry of Defense with a contribution from the Ministry of University and Research, has been postponed due to bad weather. This was announced by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and SpaceX. The launch, using a Falcon 9 rocket from the private American company, was postponed by 24 hours and a retry will be made at 00.11 on January 29.
“With the new launch, we will actually reach the sixth operational satellite in orbit,” Giorgio Sacuccia, head of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) told ANSA. “All four satellites launched so far are in practice still operating and have exceeded their nominal operational life, but it is essential that the new satellites be launched quickly, given the natural turnaround.”
Sacochea added that expectations are many and important, considering that “the new generation, which is more advanced in terms of performance and with greater accuracy, represents a technical development.” In fact, the satellites of the new generation have sensors that allow you to monitor the same target with different polarizations during the same segment: “Thanks to these characteristics – note – they are able to provide much more data for each observed area than those obtained using the first generation.” This opens “new horizons internationally: Cosmo SkyMed is part of an international vision regarding the use of data, in the name of collaboration,” said the ASI president.
“Data is shared and cooperated with various international partners in line with agreements signed between agencies or between governments,” he added. Saccoccia said Earth observation data is “a tool that can be used, both for institutional and commercial purposes” and opens up a “chain of developments and services.”
The second generation of Cosmo SkyMed asserts that the Constellation is a “highly advanced machine”, in line with the fact that “Earth observation is evolving towards complex systems and an ever-wider user base”. As for the new Earth-observing constellation put in place thanks to the National Plan for Recovery and Resilience (Pnrr) funds and which is supposed to be operational in 2026, Saccoccia said the constellations will “be complementary” and that in the meantime they will continue to look to the future: “We will also think about The third generation of Cosmo SkyMed”.
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