Italy has a long history of spaceflight and is the third-biggest contributor to the European Space Agency after France and Germany, with strong industry capabilities in space transportation and earth observation and dynamic research communities. The European Space Agency Centre for Earth Observation (ESRIN) is located in Italy, as is the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) data centre. The Space Geodesy Centre “Giuseppe Colombo”, operated by the Italian Space Agency, is one of the most important geodetic observatories in the international network.
The Space Economy in Figures
Responding to Global Challenges
2022 or the latest available year
In constant USD and national currency (base year = 2015)
Note: Data include contributions to the European Space Agency and Eumetsat.
Source: OECD analysis based on institutional sources.
In 2022, Italy’s institutional space budget reached USD 1 391 million (not accounting for National Recovery Funds not managed by the Italian Space Agency). The budget has grown significantly since 2015, with a 5.8% yearly growth rate in real terms (Figure 9.1). This includes contributions to the European Space Agency (accounting for 51% of the budget) and Eumetsat (5%), with the rest dedicated to national activities and smaller international projects/programmes. Overall, the institutional space budget accounted for 0.069% of Italy’s gross domestic product in 2022. Space is increasingly appreciated at the government level, reflected by recent budget increases and the creation of an inter-ministerial management council in 2018, placing space at the centre of government policy. Another budget hike was expected in 2023, as part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan partly funded by the European Union.
The Italian space manufacturing industry has strong links to the defence and automotive industries and produces fully assembled space systems (e.g. launchers) as well as subsystems and instruments. In 2020, the Italian space industry generated revenues of about USD 2.3 billion (EUR 2 billion), employing some 7 000 full-time equivalents across main clusters in the centre of the country (in Lazio, Toscana, and Abruzzo).
IP5 patent families, by priority date and applicant's location, using fractional counts
Notes: Patent families are compiled using the information on patent families within the Five IP offices (IP5). IP5 patent families correspond to patent families filed in at least two offices worldwide, including at least one of the Five IP largest offices (IP5, i.e. the European Patent Office, EPO; the Japan Patent Office, JPO; the Korean Intellectual Property Office, KIPO; The China National Intellectual Property Administration, CNIPA; and the US Patent and Trademark Office, USPTO). Figures are based on incomplete data from the year 2019. “Other applicants” include private individuals, universities and private non-profit organisations.
Source: OECD, STI Micro-data Lab: Intellectual Property Database, http://oe.cd/ipstats, June 2023.
Italy was among the top ten patent applicants in space-related technologies worldwide in the 2016-20 period, as shown in Figure 9.2, accounting for some 1.7% of applications. Private firms filed a majority of applications (77%). The share of private sector applicants increased between 2006-10 and 2016-20.
Based on data in the OECD Development Assistance Committee Creditor Reporting System database, Italy committed 5 million inflation-adjusted US dollars to space-related official development assistance over the 2002-21 period (Figure 9.3), with projects focused on environmental protection and disaster prevention and management. Italy also provides assistance indirectly, via European Union institutions, the European Space Agency and the World Bank.
In constant USD million (base year=2021)
Source: Calculations based on OECD (2023), “Creditor Reporting System (CRS)", OECD.stat (database), https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=CRS1 (accessed on 24 April 2023).
In terms of scientific output and excellence (Table 9.2), OECD indicators for scientific production, international co-authorships and citations in space-related scientific journal categories (aerospace engineering; astronomy; atmospheric science; and space and planetary science), show that authors at Italian-affiliated institutions performed above OECD average in 2021, for all indicators and across all three journal categories, especially for atmospheric science.
Note: publications are attributed to countries based on the authors’ institutional affiliations, using fractional counts.
Source: OECD calculations based on Scopus Custom Data, Elsevier, Version 1.2023.
References
ASI (2020) Documento di Visione Strategica per lo Spazio, Italian Space Agency https://www.asi.it/lagenzia/documenti-istituzionali/.
ASI (2021) Annual Report 2020, Italian Space Agency, https://www.asi.it/lagenzia/documenti-istituzionali/.
MISE (2018) Space Economy, Ministry of Economic Development, https://www.mise.gov.it/it/impresa/competitivita-e-nuove-imprese/space-economy.
OECD, STI Micro-data Lab: Intellectual Property Database, http://oe.cd/ipstats, June 2023.
OECD (2023), “Creditor Reporting System (CRS)", OECD.stat (database), https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=CRS1 (accessed on 24 April 2023).
Scopus Custom Data, Elsevier, Version 1.2023.
Union of Concerned Scientists (2023), UCS Satellite Database, 1 January 2023 version, data extracted 27 July 2023, https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/satellite-database.