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FROM THE CHAMBERS | 19 www.italchamind.eu ideal hub for test activities and experimenting new aerospace solutions. Grottaglie airport is part of the regional network of airports which is managed by the airport management company, Aeroporti di Puglia (AdP). In collaboration with ENAC and ENAV (Italian Air Traffic Management Company), the airport infrastructure was identified in 2014 as an integrated logistics platform for research initiatives in the civil aviation sector and by 2015 had gained formal recognition from the EU as an Airport Test Bed, a suitable test range for remotely piloted vehicles. Since then, the airport has become a catalyst for a wide range of projects related to the new space economy (drones, hyperdrones, satellites), and national and international companies have started carrying out test initiatives at Grottaglie.  The growing importance of the Grottaglie airport for the aerospace industry in Italy is not only due to favourable general conditions (location, climate, infrastructure) but above all to the joint efforts of various stakeholders: the public administration at central and regional level; ASI (Italian Space Agency); the regional research network, represented by local universities and research centres; the Apulian Aerospace Technological Cluster (DTA), which is partner to a framework co-operation agreement with AdP for the development of the “Grottaglie Test Bed” initiative.  Through ongoing collaboration, new initiatives continue to develop. DTA, ASI, ESA (European Space Agency) and Belspo (Belgium’s federal body for science policies) recently signed an agreement for testing IT systems security, including experimenting new cybersecurity solutions for unmanned aircraft to take place at Grottaglie. In December 2018, the ESEO (European Student Earth Orbiter) satellite was launched into orbit from the Vandenberg Airforce base in California. The ESEO satellite platform, which measures the levels of radiation present in the low Earth orbit and tests technologies for future ESA missions, was developed and built, on behalf of ESA by Sitael - world leader in the design and construction of micro- satellites, based in the town of Mola di Bari. Sitael, part of Angel Group, not only developed the satellite platform, performing systems integration and qualification, but also coordinated the teams involved in the ESEO mission project, representing ten European universities. INVESTING IN INNOVATION The aerospace sector in Apulia – according to the Regional Minister for Economic Development, Cosimo Borraccino - made great progress in a relatively short period of time. In 2009, the value of regional sector exports accounted for less than 5% of national sector exports; in 2017 the regional share increased to 11.5%. Looking at the latest figures available for the first nine months of 2018, regional sector exports were up by 46% on the same period of 2017.  “Until about fifteen years ago, our companies were mainly subcontractors - explained Borraccino – whereas today local companies design and manufacture aircraft in carbon fibre and even satellites. This turnaround has been due to significant investments in both scientific and industrial R&D, boosted by regional government funding. We continue to believe in the importance of investing in innovation and we continue to promote these policies, through our regional investment incentive schemes for supporting business investments in strategic sectors, such as aerospace”. · Puglia Sviluppo SpA Regional Minister for Economic Development, Cosimo Borraccino