The successful history of ITALY IN SPACE begins in the early Sixties with the San Marco Project: the first satellite entirely built and launched by a Western European Country.

With the launch of San Marco on December 15, 1964, Italy became the fourth country after the USSR, USA and Canada, to have its own satellite in space and the third to have it operated by its own launch team.
Italy was very active in the early 60s, when it took part in the initiatives of ELDO (Woomera) and ESRO (Salto di Quirra) that led to the set-up on the European Space Agency. The Italian aerospace industry succeeded not only in entering the field of scientific satellites, where it accumulated prestigious records, but also in manned space flights, where it is now recognized as leader in producing habitable pressurized volumes. Over 50% of the living space of the International Space Station was produced in Italy.
The exhibit, which is developed through 20 panels, tells the history of over 50 years of Italy’s successes in space.