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The Italian Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs Manlio Di Stefano visited �ڰ������� headquarters along with Italian Air Force Col. and �ڰ������� government astronaut trainee Walter Villadei to discuss the progress being made toward building �ڰ������� Station, the world’s first commercial space station.

�ڰ������� CEO Michael Suffredini and CTO Matt Ondler were among those who joined Stefano and Col. Villadei at �ڰ������� HQ. Through this important partnership and ongoing collaboration with the Italian industry, the companies are working together to build �ڰ������� Station and train a new class of government astronauts. These combined efforts will provide global access to space and advance the low-Earth orbit economy.

As part of �ڰ�������’s professional astronaut services, Col. Villadei has begun training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center to fly on a future �ڰ�������-sponsored research mission. Col. Villadei will complete the company’s training curriculum over many months in preparation to live and conduct meaningful work in space, expanding Italy’s role in human space exploration.

�ڰ������� has contracted Italy’s Thales Alenia Space to construct the primary structures for the first two modules of �ڰ�������’s world’s-first commercial space station. �ڰ������� Hub 1 will arrive in Houston for operational subsystem integration before its planned 2024 launch followed by Hub 2 with a planned 2025 launch.

Global partnerships remain an important priority to �ڰ������� in the efforts to open the door for new markets in low-Earth orbit.

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