OPERA: new environmentally friendly propulsion systems

The OPERA project (Orbital Propulsion Experimental Research Action) has just started. OPERA is a long-term initiative aimed at developing new environmentally friendly propulsion systems, involving the Space Propulsion Laboratory of Politecnico di Milano (SPLab-POLIMI) and D-Orbit.

SPLab-POLIMI is a research team of the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology with nearly half a century of history and represents an excellence of Italian academic research in the fields of chemical space propulsion and energetic materials.

D-Orbit, a space logistics company based in Fino Mornasco, near Como, is one of the most renowned symbols of the new Italian space industry. With its proprietary platforms, the company provides various orbital services, ranging from the deployment of small satellites into dedicated orbits to in-orbit experiments.

Within the "Joint Laboratory" OPERA, SPLab-POLIMI and D-Orbit will develop new environmentally friendly orbital propulsion solutions designed for the sustainability of future space flights. They will create and mature low-toxicity technologies, already designed to be refuelled in orbit.

The OPERA project represents a new challenge in technology transfer and aims to create a team that combines the expertise and experimental methodologies of academia with the applied vision of industrial design experts. To this end, the company in Fino Mornasco has supported our university by creating a dedicated experimental line and opening a new executive PhD position.

For the SPLab-POLIMI research group and the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology, this agreement also represents an opportunity to support education and the training of new professionals, offering several students the possibility to develop thesis activities and training within this industrial-academic working group.

The OPERA project is an example of a joint laboratory between the academic world and the high-tech manufacturing sector of Lombardy and, in general, Italy. This initiative aims to create an ecosystem of academic skills capable of meeting and supporting the ambitions of growth and international competitiveness, while keeping sustainability and environment responsibility at the forefront.

For its realization, the OPERA project has received support from the MUSA project – Multilayered Urban Sustainability Action, Innovation Ecosystem, funded by the Ministry of University and Research as part of the NRRP.