Space cooperation between Türkiye and Italy was discussed during a session held as part of the 77th International Astronautical Congress at the Antalya NEST Congress Center. Organized by the International Astronautical Federation, the congress is being hosted by the Turkish Space Agency and SAHA Istanbul under the coordination of the Ministry of Industry and Technology.
At the meeting titled “There were no borders: The Italian-Turkish partnership in space”, held as part of the IAF Global Networking Forum sessions, participants assessed ways to develop structural cooperation between the two countries in space and opportunities for joint missions.
Leaders of the two countries discussed space cooperation
Speaking at the opening of the session, Italy’s Ambassador to Ankara Giuseppe Manzo recalled that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met during the NATO Ankara Summit. Manzo said the two leaders discussed space cooperation and that the field was among the priorities for both countries.
Manzo said relations between Italy and Türkiye were based on historic ties and that they wanted to build new areas of cooperation on those foundations. The ambassador also recalled that Italian and Turkish astronauts had carried out a joint space mission as part of Axiom Mission 3.
A 10-year framework for a joint mission
The session was moderated by Andrea Della Nebbia, head of the Economic and Trade Department at the Embassy of Italy in Ankara. Speakers included Mario Cospito, special commissioner of the Italian Space Agency; Brigadier General Alper Gezeravcı, Türkiye’s first astronaut; Italian astronaut Walter Villadei, who was part of the Axiom-3 crew; and Prof. Dr. Arif Karabeyoğlu, a member of the Turkish Space Agency’s board of directors.
Cospito said relations between Türkiye and Italy had advanced from dialogue to structural cooperation. In this context, he drew attention to the memorandum of understanding signed by the Turkish Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency in 2025, which provides a 10-year framework.
Cospito said the memorandum envisaged broad cooperation in many space-related fields and that the next goal was to turn this framework into a concrete joint mission. He said the joint mission would be carried out through the sharing of technological objectives, responsibilities and capabilities.
Türkiye’s goals for the Moon and a spaceport
Prof. Dr. Arif Karabeyoğlu, a member of the Turkish Space Agency’s board of directors, provided information about Türkiye’s 10-stage roadmap for space activities. The goals include sending a Turkish citizen into space and sending a spacecraft to the Moon.
Karabeyoğlu announced that a spacecraft developed and manufactured in Türkiye would be sent to the Moon in the first months of 2027. Saying that the spacecraft was ready, Karabeyoğlu added that establishing a Türkiye-owned spaceport was also among the goals.
Karabeyoğlu said the spaceport was planned to be built in Somalia, near an existing spaceport. He noted that Italy also had a spaceport near Kenya and said this made Turkish-Italian space cooperation particularly important.
Gezeravcı: We strongly felt Italy’s support
Türkiye’s first astronaut, Brigadier General Alper Gezeravcı, recalled that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced the decision to send Türkiye’s first citizen into space in 2022. Gezeravcı said he was 43 when the decision was announced and that he had dreamed of becoming a pilot and being in the sky since childhood.
Gezeravcı said the decision to send someone into space was not merely the fulfillment of one person’s dream but the dream of an entire nation. He said children in Türkiye had become more confident about taking steps toward the future. He also emphasized Italy’s support for Türkiye in aviation, saying that this support had been strongly felt from the outset.
Emphasis on teamwork in astronaut training
Italian astronaut Walter Villadei said that space missions required not only technical skills but also the ability to deal with critical situations, which had to be developed during training. Emphasizing the importance of trust among crew members, Villadei said astronauts trained together for 11 months.
Villadei said going into space was a unique opportunity for people to discover and push their own limits, adding that space missions were a collective effort. He said there were many opportunities for young people to establish strong partnerships between Italy and Türkiye in the future.
Following the session, Massimo Comparini, general manager of Leonardo’s Space Business Unit, offered assessments of the space industry and cooperation between Türkiye and Italy. Comparini said the rapid transformation of technology was also changing the space sector, adding that space technologies and the ability to observe Earth from space were important for sustainability.
