Italy's first nano-satellite constellation will begin operations as early as 2023, when launches will also begin. A partnership between Italian companies will make it possible. Apogeo Space of Brescia has reached an agreement with D-Orbit, which is headquartered in Como and has subsidiaries in the U.S. and U.K., to put its satellites into orbit. This network will enable it to baste the infrastructure for a global connectivity service for Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

Qualified access to space will enable development of the next phases of the plan, toward planetary coverage. Apogeo has secured logistical support for the transportation of its satellites. When fully deployed, between two and three launches per year will occur, starting in 2023. Each will carry beyond the atmosphere nine satellites, "nano" in size, as the name suggests: ten centimeters by ten, three inches thick.

The project will reinforce Italy's role in telecommunications and nanosatellite constellations. Apogeo Space's ambition is to become the first company in our country able to compete in the international IoT scene. It has already won the Italian Space Agency's call for tenders, titled "Future missions for cubesats," with the Pico-IoT (Picosatellite constellation of internet of things) project, and in mid-May it closed a five million euro investment round with the entry of the Primo Space fund into the capital.