Mr. D'Onghia, congratulations on your new appointment as Chairman of ASAS. How do you see the future of Air Traffic Management in Europe with the constantly evolving development of satellite technologies?

Achieving success in best interpreting ASAS's role in promoting industry and taking part in discussions with the institutions involved in the sector is going to be a major challenge for me. As regards ATM prospects, I can confirm that the use of satellite technology is already delivering excellent results and will make a more decisive contribution to increased safety and reliability and in simplifying operations and infrastructures used in European ATM. Thanks to the EGNOS system, satellite navigation in air transport is now an essential component in air traffic management for take-off and landing operations and also in the management of vehicles within the airport area. The future (and this is really only a few years away) will also feature increasing integration of satellite communication technologies. This evolution is dictated by factors concerning operating costs and environmental impacts and will help to make the European ATM system even more efficient and secure.

ENAV has joined the shareholder base of Aireon, the US company in the Iridium Group, responsible for the design and implementation of a global satellite monitoring service that allows one to extend coverage over large areas that are not currently reached by radar.What are your thoughts on the future of this key sector?

The transmission of ADS-B monitoring signals with support from the Iridium constellation offers an opportunity for improving the safety of plane flights and simplifying the infrastructures of the ground-based segment of ATM services. These points represent an opportunity for expanding air services and optimising routes, with significant benefits in terms of “green” management of air traffic. And that is not all. The possibility of satellite broadcasting of monitoring signals opens the way for new service opportunities, due to increased reliability, for example, also in areas already reached by radar; this will be an enabling element in the expansion of civil aviation to unmanned platforms. Recognition should go to ENAV for its strategic and business vision that is proving to be extremely important for our country.

SESAR 2020 is an important project for the future of European aviation. In what ways are the companies that ASAS represents taking part in it?

SESAR 2020 represents the connection phase between the work undertaken by SESAR JU during SESAR 1 and the Industrialization & Deployment phase aimed at the operational implementation of the ATM Master Plan, combining the priorities and requirements of stakeholders with the skills and technologies that are required to enable an effective response to the needs of the ATM world. By carrying out projects ranging from pure research (Exploratory Research) to pre-operative demonstrations (Very Large Scale Demonstrations), SESAR 2020 will be able to ensure a more effective and coherent move from the drawing board to pre-operational development and final preparation for deployment. Through a series of across-the-board, integrated activities, the program will ensure Best in Class provision with global interoperability and high performance in harmonising and increasing efficiency in air transport for users and citizens alike. The complexity and organisation of the program leave ample space for industries to take part, whether they are SMEs or large companies, allowing them to play a leading role in systems engineering and planning, especially in the deployment phase and from an industrial point of view this represents an extremely important opportunity for return on investment. The regulatory issues associated with the SESAR project are not to be overlooked, particularly with regard to the use of remote-controlled aircraft, for example, in the transportation of goods. The inclusion of drones in civil air traffic will be an extremely interesting item in terms of commercial cooperation with ENAV and ENAC.

The Galileo constellation now has 14 satellites in orbit. Our country has played a leading role since the beginning of this program. When will the constellation be complete? And when will it come into operation?

The number of satellites that are able to offer the service will rapidly increase. Four new satellites were launched into space last November from the Kourou base using an Ariane 5 European rocket, performing a quadruple launch for the first time and taking the number of satellites to 18, which will all become fully operational during 2017. Subsequently another 4 launches will be made to bring the constellation up to 30 satellites by the end of 2020. Technically speaking, this is the optimum number for providing a full, global navigation service and for ensuring the necessary redundancy. The progressive increase in the number of satellites active in service delivery will have positive impacts on positioning and timing performances before full deployment of the constellation. For this reason, the first Galileo services will already be officially declared by the end of the year. Also by the end of 2016, the assignment of the Galileo Service Operator contract will reach completion. The Italian company, a joint venture with the German Space Agency, is already playing an important part in the ground infrastructure segment, as it currently provides the Mission Control for the Satellite Constellation. The prospect in the short term is also to manage the Operational Service on behalf of the GSA in the future. Therefore, during 2017, we will see the transition from infrastructure operations to full support in the delivery of “upstream” services.

From your vantage point, what are your views about the “Italy System” in the field of space...

Given the known difficulties that the Italy System has with the “system approach”, I would prefer to talk about the Italy Space System, which may not be completely immune from the country's weaknesses in this sense, but since its inception it has carried out space programmes, projects and missions achieving important results and with some peaks of excellence at an international level, both in the field of science and application. Examples we can mention include the COSMO, SKYMED, and SICRAL programmes, that were performed largely thanks to investments from the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and Defence. Today we can boast the existence of numerous excellent companies in the industrial world, including Large Enterprises and SMEs. These excellences are also found in the world of research, which is increasingly seeing the importance of close cooperation and the development of a technological alliance with the business world. An essential element in the development of solid leadership in the world of space is still provided by the ongoing cooperation with ASI and greater integration with Europe, through the efficient use of opportunities offered by the international programmes organised by ESA, the European Commission and EDA. The prerequisite is always the same: the skills and commitment of companies and research centres require institutional support, and we need a guaranteed national policy on industry that is conducive to the essential medium and long term investment in order to compete in a globally challenging environment such as that offered by the Space environment.

With the launch of the Space Economy Plan, the Public Institutions, at both national and regional levels, are providing clear evidence that they have acknowledged the strategic importance of “Space” as a commercial tool for the development and welfare of the community.

It is therefore an opportunity that the national industry sector cannot afford to lose.