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

N° 45-2024: Media invitation: First stone ceremony of ESA’s first Flyeye Observatory on 6 September 2024 in Sicily Media representatives are cordially invited to join the first stone ceremony of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Flyeye Telescope Observatory with participation of Josef Aschbacher, ESA Director General, Italian Space Agency (ASI) president Teodoro Valente, Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy Adolfo Urso and President of the Sicily region Renato Schifani. In addition, further experts and high-level representatives of ESA’s Operations and Space Safety Programme as well as Industry partners EIE GROUP, prime contractor for overall construction, and OHB Italia (telescope design) will be present.

The event will take place on top of the 1865-metre Monte Mufara in Sicily - Italy, near Piano Battaglia and at the GAL Hassin International Centre of Astronomical Sciences, Isnello (Province of Palermo).

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


    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


  • 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.