Italian Defense Officials Fight To Restore Slashed Space Funding

摘要

Italian defense officials on Dec. 3 said Italy's proposed 2014 space budget strips the country of doing anything aside from performing maintenance of its in-orbit satellites and existing space centers and threatens the future of Italy's Cosmo-SkyMed radar reconnaissance program. In speeches here during the inauguration of a satellite electronics facility owned by Thales Alenia Space, replacing the site destroyed by earthquake in April 2009, officials said they would fight in the coming weeks to restore a budget that has been cut by 43 percent in two years.