After spending more than a decade in the United States and obtaining dual citizenship, Giuseppe Santangelo returned to Turin, Italy to establish Space Industries, a business focused on rapid assembly, integration and testing of satellites as large as eight cubic meters.
By 2030, Space Industries will employ 300 people and produce one satellite per workday, Santangelo told SpaceNews.
Space Industries, founded in February, is backed by the Micelli family, owners of the Comat Group, an Italian company that provides energy services, facilities management and space technology. The new company, owned by shareholders, will not accept government funding, Santangelo said.
Before establishing Space Industries, Santangelo served as managing director of nanosatellite and microsatellite manufacturer Tyvak International. He also founded Skypersonic, a Michigan-based drone manufacturer acquired in 2021 by Red Cat Holdings. Early in his career, Santangelo worked at Thales Alenia Space as a systems engineer and project manager.
Why did you found Space Industries now?
Europe needs this kind of fast development and serialization of production of satellites.
We condensed the space integration, assembly and testing in one facility, so we can increase the efficiency, reduce the cost and time to produce satellites.
My idea is to stimulate the commercial space environment. I believe that we will have an industrial segment, which means using sensing, telecommunication and observation to handle industrial things. It could be building a new plant, from the geological evaluation to following this building via satellite.
Is it important for Europe to have that capability?
States have to collaborate. But collaboration means that all states are autonomous in something. Europe needs to grow in space, because the space economy is going to become an important market. It’s not anymore just space exploration.
Why are you building satellites of this size?
In my experience, we started from very big satellites. Then we went smaller to the cubesat. Then, we said, “If we stay so small, we cannot do many things.” So, we got larger again. The minisatellite, the size of a small vehicle, has enough power to handle many payloads with the telescope, with the antennas and so forth. This is the right size in terms of price and capabilities.
I understand you are bringing all the environmental testing and integration into a 3,000-square-meter clean room.
Having a facility that can do all the cycles in the same place is an advantage because we are not thinking about a single satellite. We are thinking about a constellation of 100 satellites.
Was it difficult to raise money for this startup in Italy?
I found other entrepreneurs that wanted to invest directly. We are not taking money from the government.
Will you sell satellites to government agencies?
No. We can build satellites for a prime contractor that already won a contract. In other countries, maybe we can be constellation broker with other partners. But in Europe, we are the supporter, not the prime for institutional programs.
Many interesting companies are springing up in Italy.
Correct. For Italy, space is a sensible market, particular in Torino, home of Thales Alenia, where I worked for many years. This heritage is still present here and it has evolved in many smaller companies.
I’m a dual U.S. and Italian citizen. I understand that in the end, collaboration and teamwork is a beautiful thing. Let’s support each other in the space environment. We have to have a synergistic approach. This is the only way to win.
