In and around Milan there are several options for the congress technical tours. The visitors will have the opportunity to discover our centres of excellence and learn about our space traditions, history, telecommunications, navigation, exploration, earth observation and much more.
OHB-Italia
OHB Italia SpA is a leading company in Italy in the field of space systems design, development and integration.
The company is a subsidiary of OHB SE, a European Space and Technology group that currently employs over 2,000 people in two Business Units: “Space Systems” and “Aerospace & Industrial Products”.
OHB Italia core business is focused on space activities in the following areas:
• Satellites for scientific and Earth observation missions;
• Scientific payloads;
• Instruments for Earth observation;
• ISS internal and external facilities for microgravity experiments.
The company, founded in 1981, has headquarters in Milan and centres of excellence in Italy. Thanks to a consolidated technical expertise, advanced technologies and highly qualified human resources, OHB Italia acts as prime contractor at systems level and as supplier of subsystems, instruments and equipment for the space segment. The company operates both on the institutional and commercial markets and works in close cooperation with space agencies, research institutes and large industrial groups.
TAS-I
Thales Alenia Space, the joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), operates in Italy through Thales Alenia Space Italia, which has 2,300 employees in Rome, Turin, L’Aquila, and Milan.
In Italy, Thales Alenia Space has over 40 years of experience in building systems and equipment for space telecommunications, navigation, Earth observation, science, exploration, and transport.
Orbital infrastructures are a particular area of expertise, with Thales Alenia Space Italia delivering half of the pressurized volume on the International Space Station.
The company contributes to many of contemporary leading space programs, working for both government and commercial customers, including NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Italian space agency (ASI), as well as leading satellite operators.
Thales Alenia Space Italia invests massively in Research & Development to support a continuous stream of innovation in all sectors.
It has also developed a broad network of partners from both academia and industry, including many innovative small businesses, to support R&D and production activities.
ALTEC
ALTEC – Aerospace Logistics Technology Engineering Company – is the Italian center of excellence for the provision of engineering and logistics services to support operations and utilization of the International Space Station and the development and implementation of planetary exploration missions.
ALTEC is a public-private company owned by the major European space company, Thales Alenia Space and the Italian Space Agency, ASI.
ALTEC is based in Turin and has liaison offices at NASA and ESA.
ALTEC services ranging from engineering and logistics support, training of astronauts, to support experiments in biomedicine in particular, the processing of scientific data, the development and management of the ground segment of space programs and the promotion of space culture.
LEONARDO - Nerviano
Since 1948, Leonardo has been the protagonist of Italian industrial history.
Today LEONARDO is one of the top ten global players in the aerospace, defence and security industry, a chosen long-term partner for Governments, Institutions and private clients, and offers state-of-the-art technology.
LEONARDO is a top player in Space with a long and consolidated history dating back to the sixties.
LEONARDO designs and develops a complete range of solutions in its Italian facilities, ranging from the manufacture of satellites and orbiting structures to the development and management of ground systems, satellite operations and services and the production of a wide range of high-tech instruments, subsystems and sensors.
Space related productions made in Italy are present in all the most important programmes promoted by international institutions and agencies.
The LEONARDO site in Nerviano is renowned for its leadership in space robotics technologies in the main international missions such as Rosetta, ExoMars2020 and Luna-27.
THE ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY OF BRERA
The Astronomical Observatory of Brera (OAB) is one of the top level research institutes in the world and it is the most ancient scientific institution in Milan.
In 1946 it became part of the scientific institutions of the new born Italian Republic and since 2001 it has become part of the National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF).
The OAB was founded in 1764 by Luigi La Grange and Giuseppe Ruggiero Boscovich and since then it is located in the Palazzo Brera, in Milan.
A second site, located at Villa San Rocco in Merate, Brianza, became operational in 1923. Main directors in the history of the Observatory are Barnaba Oriani, Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli and Giovanni Celoria.
The OAB has been the workplace of lots of astronomers, one of them is the famous Margherita Hack, that worked in Merate from 1954 to 1964, when became full professor of the Institute
of Physics of the Trieste University.
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY “Leonardo Da Vinci”
The National Museum of Science and Technology “Leonardo Da Vinci” was inaugurated in Milan on 15 February 1953, becoming a foundation under private law in 1999.
Extending over 50,000 square meters and attracting more than 530,000 visitors a year, it is the largest scientific and technological museum in Italy and one of the four major in Europe.
Besides having achieved major significance at international level in protection, conservation, and enhancement of technical-scientific collections, the Museum is a world reference for the interpretation and the narration of the work of Leonardo da Vinci.
Structured according to two main nuclei –
Observing Space from the Earth” and “Going into Space” – the Space section of the Museum presents fascinating and original objects, interactive experiences, and insights and curiosities, as well as the only fragment of a moon rock anywhere in Italy.
LA SPECULA MUSEUM - PADUA
Guided tours of Padua comprise its city center and the Scrovegni Chapel and last some 2 hours.
The tour includes a walk in the Ghetto, the famous Piazza dei Frutti, Piazza dei Signori, Piazza delle Erbe, and the Scrovegni Chapel and its Giotto’s Frescoes.
According to a false tradition, the tower of the observatory is the place in which Galileo made his extraordinary astronomical discoveries and revealed, for the first time, many star peculiarities.
Thanks to these discoveries, he revolutionized astronomy and the rest of science.
Despite this widespread belief, the astronomical observatory of Padova was never used by the famous scientist.
In fact, construction works ended in 1767, that is, about 150 years after Galileo left Padua and moved to Florence, at the Medici court.
