Embassy of Italy in Seoul to host 6th Italian Space Day

A promotional poster for the Embassy of Italy's Italy Space Day event / Courtesy of Embassy of Italy in Seoul

The Embassy of Italy in Seoul will host the sixth Italy Space Day Wednesday, bringing together representatives from the aerospace industry, academia and research institutions in Korea and Italy to survey the latest developments in space technology and bilateral cooperation.

The annual event commemorates the 1964 launch of San Marco, Italy's first satellite, which made Italy the third country in the world to place a domestically developed satellite into orbit.

Launched in 2021, Italy Space Day is organized in cooperation with the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and aims to raise public awareness of space activities while highlighting its major achievements in the sector.

The program opens with welcoming remarks by Ambassador Emilia Gatto, followed by congratulatory addresses from Rep. Hwang Jeong-ah of the Democratic Party of Korea and Park Jae-seong, director general of the Space Transportation Directorate at the Korea AeroSpace Administration. Teodoro Valente, president of the Italian Space Agency, will deliver opening remarks via video message.

The keynote address will be given by Col. Walter Villadei, an Italian Air Force officer and astronaut who most recently served as pilot on Axiom Mission 3, Axiom Space's third privately funded human mission to the International Space Station.

A technical session will feature presentations from representatives of Thales Alenia Space Italia, Leonardo, Korea Aerospace Research Institute, Hanwha Systems, Contec, Boryung, the Italian Aerospace Companies Association, Seoul National University, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Yonsei University and the University of Padova. All presentations will be conducted in English.

The event concludes with a networking reception aimed at advancing science and technology cooperation between the two countries in the space sector.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.