Participation in Axiom Space's Ax-3 mission will boost the best national competencies related to human space activities, both in the medical and technological fields, through experiments in microgravity.

Rome, 12 October 2023 – The Ax-3 mission, heading for the International Space Station (ISS) in 2024 and involving Defence with Colonel Walter Villadei of the Italian Air Force, will provide the Italian System with the opportunity to enhance scientific, technological, and operational expertise – for both institutional bodies and private companies – related to human activities in space.

With an all-European crew, the mission of the US company Axiom Space – which will launch from the Kennedy Space Center (Florida) aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft – will allow astronauts on board the ISS to carry out a series of scientific experiments in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO). For Italy, the experiments have been promoted by the Ministry of Defence and the Italian Space Agency (ASI), in coordination with research centres, universities, and industries, to amplify – through experimentation – the nation's extensive operational, medical, and technological experience, applied to space.

In detail, the Air Force will carry out experimentation activities, for the first time from space, on the ISOC (Italian Space Operations Centre) software system, the heart of its Space Situational Awareness (SSA) capability. The astronauts on board the ISS will replicate some analyses normally carried out by the SSA Centre, one of the leading European space operations centres for monitoring space objects re-entering the atmosphere, and which constantly monitors possible collision events between active orbiting artificial objects (including the ISS) and space debris.

A two-week stay in microgravity conditions will make it possible to test and verify the physiological effects of spaceflight on humans, to understand both biological and psychological changes. In this context, the Air Force will carry out a study related to the cardiovascular system, focused on the biological reactions of endothelial function to microgravity, while the Italian Space Agency (ASI) will again analyse the effect of microgravity on the aggregation of beta-amyloid (Aβ) proteins, which are implicated in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's. Furthermore, the ASI will conduct the ORION experiment, aimed at studying female fertility in microgravity conditions, and the PROMETEO II experiment to study oxidative stress, which is the basis of many detrimental effects of spaceflight, including in particular cognitive and behavioural disorders.

A non-exhaustive list of experiments in orbit is available at this Link

Background Italian Air Force

Within the scope of renewed international interest in the space sector, Italy – which already boasts human and technological excellence in this field – is at the forefront of leveraging civil-military collaboration initiatives and public-private partnerships, aimed at ensuring concrete benefits both in terms of developing and enhancing operational and defence capabilities in space, and in terms of tangible social, scientific, economic, and industrial returns for the country. In this context, the Ax-3 mission represents the hyphen enabling within the scope of a national strategic vision, which synergistically links the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy – with delegation for Space, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forests, and the Italian Space Agency, representing a privileged opportunity to continue promoting the commitment towards safe and effective access to Space.

With its wealth of expertise, the Air Force is naturally oriented towards valuing and monitoring the space environment, placing its experience at the service of Defence and the nation. Through national programmes, bilateral collaborations, and participation in industrial and research projects, the Armed Force is fully integrated into the national system and works to ensure the maintenance of excellence in the national Space and Aerospace sector, also thanks to its capacity for training and supporting human activities in Space.

Italian Space Agency

The Italian Space Agency boasts significant experience in the field of human spaceflight, which has been established and consolidated over the years. For over 15 years, it has been conducting and testing science and technology in microgravity aboard the International Space Station, thanks to its participation in ESA programmes and international agreements with NASA. In particular, human physiology scientific experiments have been developed for monitoring astronauts' health and payload For Life Science. Thanks to the agreement with NASA, signed in 1997 (ASI-NASA Memorandum of Understanding – MoU), the Italian Space Agency (ASI) has privileged access to the International Space Station (ISS). Thanks to the futuristic and technological Italian industrial contribution that led to the completion of the ISS with the supply of three MPLM modules (one of which, the PMM, became a permanent module of the ISS in 2011), the ASI has obtained, in return, the right to carry out supplementary flights for Italian astronauts for long-duration missions and to utilise the onboard resources of the ISS. A situation that has resulted in the opportunity to continuously conduct experiments aboard the ISS.