Italy on Friday hailed a space accord with France that will boost European competitiveness, cementing bilateral cooperation on future Ariane 6 and Vega 6 launchers.
"We are extremely satisfied by the agreement with France...which has a particular emphasis on space launchers," said Italy's technological innovation minister Vittorio Colao.
"This is a sector in which Italy and France share a strategic vision," said Colao, who signed Friday's accord with France's finance minister Bruno Le Maire.
The two countries have chosen to cooperate especially closely on space launcher motors and on earth observation systems "an area in which France and Italy can play a key role as European players," said Colao.
"It's important because Italy and France are key architects of European space strategy," Colao underlined.
The space sector is key for European competitiveness and for the strategic capabilities of both states, Italy's technology and innovation ministry and France's finance ministry said earlier in a joint statement announcing the accord.
"Europe’s autonomous access to space must be preserved and reinforced," the statement underlined.
The space accord follows three months of intense negotiation and "consolidates cooperation between Italy and France on launchers," said the statement.
The agreement "lays the foundation for increased competitiveness of both liquid and solid propulsion thanks to industrial optimisations and strengthened cooperation," the statement added.
"It also plans for additional technological developments that will enable us to position Ariane on the emerging market of mega-constellations and acknowledges Italy’s ambition in earth observation."
The space accord was signed on the sidelines of a landmark friendship treaty inked on Friday by Italy's premier Mario Draghi and France's president Emmanuel Macron.
