Human space flight

Want to travel with us? We will take you into space

We have clocked up thousands of flight hours aboard the ISS (International Space Station), carrying payloads that combine advanced technology with attention to all the needs and requirements of space travellers. Because even an astronaut has the right to “travel in comfort“.

We also organise training, as in the case of a number of astronauts from the European Space Agency (ESA). Our certified instructors train the astronauts at the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Cologne and also instruct the ground staff (so-called flight controllers) in voice protocol, ISS operations, control centres on Earth and flight rules.

UTISS

Since 2018 we have been prime contractors of UTISS 2 – utilisation of the ISS – for the Italian Space Agency. This role means we are able to provide our support to ASI for all Italian payloads on the ISS. Liaison support is provided to NASA at the JSC – ASI office.
We also participate in NASA working groups, supporting ASI in the management of payload resource utilisation.

We also handle:

  • Definition and validation of requirements
  • Support in the development of new payloads
  • Integration and certification
  • Safety procedures
  • Quality management
  • Training
  • Logistics
  • Environment and Business Development
  • Loading operations
  • Dissemination of results
  • Publicisation
  • Utilisation database

Among our many projects, we worked on the six ASI experiments that were part of Luca Parmitano’s ESA Beyond mission, which began on July 20, 2019 and ended on February 6, 2020. For this mission we supported all the Italian technologies on board the ISS: acoustic diagnostics, amyloid aggregation, NutrISS, XenoGRISS, light ion detector for ALTEA (LIDAL), mini-EUSO.