BROMO

Exploration: specialisations, programmes and customers

Exploration is smaller than Earth Observation but concentrates capabilities built on heritage, certification and tacit knowledge that are difficult to recreate. Turin, ALTEC, robotics, habitats and lunar communications make this vertical especially sensitive to workshare decisions.

Analysis by Alessandro Sannini

A smaller but more concentrated supply chain
The exploration supply chain is smaller than Earth observation but concentrates rarer capabilities. The dossier identifies 100 profiles, 70 of which are also active in EO. Distinctive nodes include habitable and pressurised modules…
Industrial sub-sectors
Exploration combines very different sub-verticals, linked by unusually high requirements for reliability and mission assurance. Mission science and systems engineering define objectives, trajectories and ConOps; habitats, pressurised…
Programmes that anchor Italian value
Italian value in exploration is anchored in programmes that combine heritage with new opportunities. ISS and Cygnus built capabilities later reused on Gateway and future private stations. I-HAB, HALO and Lunar View keep pressurised…
Thirteen families of end customers
Exploration depends on more concentrated demand than EO, although the number of customer families is growing. The Italian government and ASI, ESA, NASA and other agencies remain the core buyers of infrastructure, technology and missions.…
Why exploration is the most sensitive vertical
Exploration is more sensitive because it combines long cycles, a small number of major customers and programmes exposed to political, technical and budget revisions. Commercial post-ISS and lunar demand is promising but not yet…