N° 45–2024: Media invitation: First stone ceremony of ESA’s first Flyeye Observatory on 6 September 2024 in Sicily

The Flyeye telescope is the first unit in a global network of Near-Earth Object (NEO) survey telescopes developed by ESA’s Space Safety Programme. The Flyeye telescopes will continuously scan the sky at night, automatically identifying potentially dangerous near-Earth objects, or NEOs for short, thus allowing ESA to give early warning in case of potential danger.

The telescopes owe their name to their unique optical design which splits the light into multiple cameras expanding its overall field of view – similar to the technique exploited by a fly’s compound eye.

The Flyeye telescopes will be part of a global effort to protect our planet.

By attending the event, journalists will learn more about the Flyeye telescope and its future role in Planetary Defence, an essential element in protecting Earth from hazardous objects such as comets and asteroids.

Media opportunities include:

Interview, photo and filming opportunities with ESA, ASI, Industry and Italian government as well as regional spokespersons and experts as mentioned above.

Event Programme on 6 September 2024

• 12.00 Welcome at Gal Hassin/Isnello Giuseppe Mogavero
  • ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher
  • ASI President Teodoro Valente
  • INAF President Roberto Ragazzoni
  • ESA Director of Operations, Rolf Densing
  • EIE GROUP President Gianpietro Marchiori
  • OHB Italia CEO Roberto Aceti
  • Representative of the Municipalities, Marcello Catanzaro
  • President of Sicily Renato Schifani
  • Italian Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy Adolfo Urso
  • Short interview opportunities
• 13.00 Refreshments
• 13.45 Departure to Mt. Mufara
• 15.15 Arrival Mt. Mufara
  • Welcome and site presentation
  • Ribbon cut and placement of first stone
    • ESA Director General  Josef Aschbacher
    • ASI President Teodoro Valente
    • Italian Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy Adolfo Urso
  • Photos, Brindisi, Interviews
• 16.30 End of Ceremony at the top of Mt. Mufara

 

NOTE: in case of bad weather the whole event will take place at GAL Hassin International Centre of Astronomical Sciences, Isnello (Province of Palermo).

The event will be held in Italian and English.

Media registration

Please express interest by 2 September at 16:00 CEST for the event by selecting and completing the relevant form at https://blogs.esa.int/forms/esa-media-briefing-form .

Please note that the number of places is limited because of logistical restrictions linked to the location of the ceremony. For this reason, ESA cannot guarantee all interested media will be able to join this event. Registration to the event is mandatory. 

Getting to the event site - Meeting point:

Fondazione GAL Hassin
Centro Internazionale per le Scienze Astronomiche
Via della Fontana Mitri
90010 Isnello (PA)

https://maps.app.goo.gl/K7LeMJw4eKZKdhmu8

The first stone ceremony event will take place on top of the 1865-metre Monte Mufara. Transport will be arranged by EIE Group.

For further information and for ESA interview requests, please contact:

ESA Media Relations: media@esa.int

ASI Media Relations: stampa@esa.int

Further information

Flyeye: ESA’s bug-eyed asteroid hunter
https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Flyeye_ESA_s_bug-eyed_asteroid_hunter

Images

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Search?SearchText=flyeye&result_type=images https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images  

https://photolibrary.esa.int/home-page/

For questions or more information related to ESA images, please contact directly spaceinimages@esa.int.

Videos

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Search?SearchText=Flyeye&result_type=videos

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Search?SearchText=Flyeye&result_type=transmissions

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos  

https://www.esa.int/esatv/Videos_for_Professionals  

For questions or more information related to ESA videos, please contact directly spaceinvideos@esa.int.

Social media

Follow ESA on: 

X:   @esa @ESA_Cluster @esa_science @esaoperations
Instagram: Europeanspaceagency 
Facebook: EuropeanSpaceAgency 
YouTube: ESA 
LinkedIn: European Space Agency - ESA 
Pinterest: European Space Agency - ESA 

About the European Space Agency

The European Space Agency (ESA) provides Europe’s gateway to space.

ESA is an intergovernmental organisation, created in 1975, with the mission to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space delivers benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world

ESA has 22 Member States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia are Associate Members.

ESA has established formal cooperation with four Member States of the EU. Canada takes part in some ESA programmes under a Cooperation Agreement.

By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, ESA can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country. It is working in particular with the EU on implementing the Galileo and Copernicus programmes as well as with Eumetsat for the development of meteorological missions.

Learn more about

The European Space Agency ESA: www.esa.int  

The Italian Space Agency ASI: www.asi.it

EIE Group: www.eie.it/en

OHB Italia: ohb-italia.it