High-Performance Computing (HPC), cloud, artificial intelligence, ultra-high-speed transmission. These are the ingredients of a revolution that Leonardo is taking from the ground to Space. As Simone Ungaro explains, “Land, sea, water and even Space can no longer be managed in a dichotomous way.” It is necessary to move towards a multi-domain system, in which all technologies and platforms are connected and interact with each other.

Space plays a fundamental role because it is the best possible vantage point. Hence the realisation that the computational capacity of a satellite is a fundamental element for any future system. Not only for Defence, but also for areas such as agriculture and remote sensing. According to Massimo Comparini, the aim is to move towards the realisation of a distributed computing system and cloud, realised thanks to satellite constellations. “On-board computing and artificial intelligence will also be important in missions to distant worlds, allowing us a kind of adaptive and intelligent in-situ Space exploration.”