Two programs make up most of the fleet
Italy owns 91 active satellites as of October 17, 2026, 0.5% of the world total and the seventh largest national fleet. Two programs account for 59 of them, 65%: the national IRIDE constellation with 39 and D-Orbit's ION carriers with 20.
Technology demonstrations, 45 satellites, are the biggest category in GCAT's table, ahead of Earth imaging with 31.
What they do
Technology demonstration accounts for 45 of Italy's active satellites (49%).
Where they orbit
Who operates them
The largest operators, and the largest families of satellites, owned by Italy.
By operator
By satellite family
Operator names are as written in GCAT, usually transliterated from the original language. Families group satellites by the first word of their name.
How the fleet has grown
At the end of 2005, Italy had 11 payloads in Earth orbit. By the end of 2025 it had 86.
Launches
Italy has made 11 orbital launch attempts since its first in 1967, and 0 of them in 2025. Its busiest year was 1971 with 2.
IRIDE, a constellation paid for by a recovery plan
IRIDE stands for Initiatives for Italy's Resilience from Emergencies. It's funded by Italy's National Recovery and Resilience Plan and is coordinated by the European Space Agency with the Italian Space Agency. The first launch was on January 14, 2025 on a Falcon 9 (Transporter-12), and the makers include Argotec, OHB Italia, SITAEL, Thales Alenia Space and D-Orbit. GCAT credits 24 of the satellites to the operator code ASI/OHBI and 15 to ASI/ARGOT.
The Italian Space Agency, ASI, was formed on January 1, 1988. Italy was a founder of ELDO (March 29, 1962) and ESRO (June 14, 1962), which merged into ESA on April 30, 1975. ASI is described as the major backer of the Vega launcher, with 65 percent.
A space tug that counts as a satellite
D-Orbit was founded in 2011 by Luca Rossettini and Renato Panesi. Its product is the ION Satellite Carrier, a tug that releases each satellite into its own orbital slot. The first mission was in September 2020, deploying 12 SuperDove satellites for Planet. GCAT counts 21 of these vehicles as Italian satellites, of which 20 carry the ION name.
A carrier that delivers other satellites into their orbits gets counted as a satellite itself, which is a good example of why a satellite total depends on definitions.
Radar from Italy
The best-known Italian fleet is COSMO-SkyMed, a dual-use radar Earth-observation system run by ASI and funded by the Ministries of Research and Defence. There were four first-generation satellites, the first launched in June 2007 on a Delta II from Vandenberg. The second generation launched later: CSG-1 flew on a Soyuz from Kourou on December 18, 2019, CSG-2 on a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral on January 31, 2022, and CSG-3 on a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg on January 3, 2026. The fourth is planned for 2027 on a Vega-C.
GCAT shows 3 active COSMO satellites and 3 CSG ones. Two of the CSG launches left from Florida and California, and none flew on an Italian rocket.
Italy as a launcher
Italy's owners lean on foreign rockets: 78 of its 91 active satellites flew on American rockets, 6 on rockets credited to France and 4 on Russian rockets. Its own launch count is eleven. Nine of them were US Scout rockets launched from the San Marco platform off Malindi, Kenya, between April 26, 1967 and March 25, 1988. The platform was named for the Italian pioneer Luigi Broglio and it's now inactive. San Marco 1 itself flew earlier, on December 15, 1964, from Wallops Island in Virginia as a training exercise for the Italian crew while the platform was delayed, and it isn't in Italy's count.
The other two Italian launches are from 2026. Avio, the Italian builder, took over marketing and management of Vega C launches after Member States approved the split from Arianespace in late 2023 and the terms were finalised in July 2024. The two Vega C flights, on May 19, 2026 and September 15, 2026, are credited to Italy for that reason. Earlier Vega flights are in the French count.