The contract has been signed between the Italian Aerospace Research Center (CIRA) and the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) for the launch in June 2022 of the Mini-IRENE Flight Experiment (MIFE) capsule at the ESRANGE launch base in Kiruna, Sweden . The launch will allow, through a suborbital re-entry flight, the qualification of loads due to pressure and the deployable thermal protection system based on the use of conventional materials: IRENE© technology. Mini-IRENE (from the Greek for peace) was developed by CIRA and the consortium company ALI – Aerospace Laboratories for Innovative components with its associates Euro.Soft, Lead Tech and SRS-ED.
Its development, with a total value of approximately 2 million euros, was financed by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the European Space Agency (ESA). Mini-IRENE was designed and developed entirely by Neapolitan companies and universities. Its uniqueness lies in the use of conventional materials which, when expertly used, provide an economical and reliable technology for returning from space. CIRA and ALI are also developing the cargo bay of an orbital reentry system, which will host the first prototype of a biology experiment, ReADI FP which will be launched in May this year on board the International Space Station, aimed at preventing osteoporosis in space flights and the improvement of osteoporotic therapies on Earth. ReADI FP is part of the activities envisaged by the CA.DI.RA project, Atmospheric Reentry Capsule, coordinated by CIRA and ALI and financed by the Campania Region as part of the POR FESR CAMPANIA 2014/2020 – Priority Axis 1 “Research and Innovation”.
CIRA
CIRA – Italian Aerospace Research Centre. It was created in 1984 to implement PRO.RA, the National Aerospace Research Program which includes:
CIRA’s mission is therefore focused on the development of activities that constitute a fundamental asset for the national and European aerospace industry. The activities carried out by CIRA for the implementation and realization of the PRO.RA are subject to the control of the MUR, the Ministry of University and Research.
ALI
ALI – Aerospace Laboratory for Innovative components – is a non-profit consortium company, configured as an SME and established in April 2006, with headquarters in the industrial area of Naples. Among the founding members of the Campania Aerospace District, ALI includes 12 companies that develop the entire aerospace sector supply chain. The company is engaged in various national and international programs; its main project is IRENE®, an innovative patented opening and thermal protection technology for re-entry from space, characterized by an umbrella configuration that allows it to use the shield both as thermal protection and as an airbrake.
Statement by Giuseppe Morsillo, President of CIRA
The closing of the Mini-Irene launch contract is the last step in chronological order of an initiative brilliantly developed in the territory as a national asset of international value, and a harbinger of further steps that aim at even more ambitious missions downstream of this essential stage of a demonstrative nature. Last but not least, the method of valorising skills and synergies which is behind the results achieved and which is the founding prerequisite of the added value expected in the short future should be underlined. Thanks therefore go to those who, in the diversity of roles, from researchers to institutions, have made this intermediate stage reachable, and above all the entire journey affordable and viable.
Statement by Valeria Fascione, Councilor for Research, Innovation and Startups of the Campania Region
The news of the launch of Mini-Irene is a source of satisfaction for the entire regional research and innovation ecosystem. The aerospace supply chain confirms its dynamism and centrality in the Campania economy and as a Regional Council we have encouraged its expansion with various interventions: from Development Contracts to the Space Economy, to support for research and technology transfer. We are also very pleased with the imminent launch of ReADI FP which will be on board the International Space Station in May, a project that we supported as part of the synergistic actions with the Clean Sky2 Joint Undertaking, the largest European research program in the aeronautical field .
Statement by Giovanni Squame, ALI President
An important day for ALI. It is a recognition of the commitment to professionalism and stubbornness of our workers and a fundamental contribution to space research coming from Naples, from the South of the country.
Statement by Luigi Carrino, President of DAC – Aerospace District of Campania
The excellence of the Campania aerospace supply chain is further confirmed by the news of the launch of Mini-Irene in 2022. The simultaneous presence in Campania of excellence in research, such as CIRA, and of important entrepreneurial entities such as ALI, allows us to achieve results that due to their innovation they bring us to the attention of the world. In a period of crisis generated by COVID-19, news like this gives us a capacity for “active resilience” that makes us look to the future with optimism.
