To celebrate the 4th Italian Space Day, on December 5, the Embassy of Italy in Canada organized at the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, a major Canadian educational organization, the scientific discussion “Space science”, focusing on issues related to space exploration, astrobiology, space medicine and health.
The Ambassador of Italy to Canada, H.E. Alessandro Cattaneo, opened the event by recalling Italy’s leadership role in the global aerospace sector, as one of the few nations worldwide with a comprehensive value chain. Ambassador Cattaneo also highlighted how the presence of key Italian and Canadian players at the event offered a unique opportunity to explore new avenues of collaboration between Italy and Canada, in the spirit of the Roadmap for Enhanced Cooperation, launched at the 2024 G7 Apulia Summit last summer.
Leading Canadian scientists, including the Director of the Biomedical Sciences Program at the University of Ottawa and the Founder of the Canadian Space Health Research Network, as well as the Director of External Relations at the Canadian Space Agency, participated in the event. In his closing remarks, the President of Leonardo Canada and USA highlighted the many existing partnerships with Canadian companies, the research and development activities carried out by Leonardo in Canada, and their projects in the aerospace sector.
The initiative was aimed at consolidating the already strong cooperation between Italy and Canada in this field, in line with the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2021 by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). A selection of videos and images taken from the exhibition “From the Moon to Mars,” created by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with ASI and the European Space Agency (ESA), enriched the event.
