#space-commercialization

#space-commercialization

A new dash across the skies kicks off in 2026, reigniting geopolitical competition under the guise of peaceful exploration. The moon's south pole is emerging as the most valuable real estate in the solar system, offering peaks of eternal light for solar arrays and ice deposits in craters shielded from the sun. The US and a China-led bloc are eyeing the lunar surface and its potential to control a post-terrestrial economy.

If there is one thing we can rely on in this world, it is human hubris, and space and astronomy are no exception. The ancients believed that everything revolved around Earth. In the 16th century, Copernicus and his peers overturned that view with the heliocentric model. Since then, telescopes and spacecraft have revealed just how insignificant we are. There are hundreds of billions of stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way, each star a sun

"It is a historic step that reinforces our nation's autonomy in access to space and assigns us a strategic responsibility towards Europe," said Avio CEO Giulio Ranzo. "We are ready to meet this challenge with determination, and we are investing in technologies, expertise, and infrastructure to ensure a competitive service."