Partners: 36 partners nationwide. UniPisa partner coordinator for Spoke 09: Luigi Folco
Duration: 47 months (from August 1st, 2024, to July 31st, 2028)
Budget (€): 79.567.777,14 (@Spoke 09 UniPisa: 612.937,00)
ERC field:
ERC subfields:
Keywords: Space exploration, Humans in space, Solar System
Scope – SPACE IT UP is a program aiming at enhancing the space technology of Italy to be used for space exploration and exploitation for the benefit of planet Earth and the entire humankind. SPACE IT UP operates nine thematic areas addressing the challenges that major international players are proposing to enhance the space domination of the mankind, for both downstream and upstream applications. The nine thematic areas will be the focus of nine Spokes; four of those will be “Transversal Spokes” (Spokes 1-4) dealing with enabling technologies and shared disciplines, the remaining “Horizontal Spokes” will deal instead with Earth observation (Spokes 5-7) and Space exploration (Spokes 8-9). SPACE IT UP project aims at developing innovative ideas and disruptive solutions to make Italy one of the leading countries in space exportation and exploitation. The synergies fostered in the project between academy, industry, and research centres are expected to have a strong impact on the Italian space sector and are aimed at the pursuit of the following main objectives:
- Promote innovation and extend fundamental knowledge
- Fostering a sustainable future
- Ensure long-term huma permanence in extraterrestrial space
- Strenghtening the “space ecosystem” in Italy.
The Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra of the Università di Pisa is leader of Task 9.3.1 (Analyses of extraterrestrial materials) and partner of Task 9.2.2 (Identification and characterization of potential extraterrestrial habitats).
Other UniPisa participants: Carlo Baroni (DST); Katherine Villavicencio Valero (DST), Anna Musolino (DST), Diego Manzoni (DRT), Laura Benvenuti (DRT)
Papers published in international journals with IF
Del Rio M., Folco L., Mugnaioli E., Goderis S., Masotta M. (2025) Loss and Accretion of Moderately Volatile Elements K and Na in Australasian Microtektites from Antarctica. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 395, 212-228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2025.03.005
Folco L., Mugnaioli E., Masotta M., Glass B. P. (2025) Coesite discovered in Australasian microtektites. Geology 53, 727–731. https://doi.org/10.1130/G53151.1
Pignatelli I., Mugnaioli E., Marrocchi Y., Folco L. (2025) Constraints on the fluid alteration of Nakhla meteorite inferred from Fe-rich phyllosilicate characterization. Meteoritics and Planetary Science 60, 2197 – 2222. https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.70031
Zahnow F., Suttle M.D., Lazarov M., Weyer S., Di Rocco T., Folco L., Pack A. (2025) Traces of the oxygen isotope composition of ancient air in fossilized cosmic dust. Communications Earth & Environment | (2025) 6:577. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02541-5
Musolino A., Suttle M.D., Folco L., King A.J., Poggiali G., Bates H.C., Brucato J.R., Brearley A. (2024) Early fluid migration and alteration fronts in the CM chondrite Reckling Peak 17085. Meteoritics and Planetary Science 59, 3021-3043 https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.14261
Ferretti S., Marrara S., Bronte Ciriza D., Magazzù A., Foti A., Gucciardi P. G., Musolino A., Folco L., Della Corte V., Rotundi A., Saija R., Mandanici A., Maragò O. M., Donato M. G. (2024) Contactless Manipulation and Raman Analysis of Cometary Analogs and Micrometeorites by Acoustic Levitation. The Astrophysical Journal, 974:287. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad7259
Van Ginneken M., Goderis S., Genge M. J., Jonker G., Maeda R., Wozniakiewicz P. J., Folco L., Suttle M. D., Franchi I. A., Zhao X., Yamaguchi A., Decrée S. (2026) 16O poor cosmic spherules from near-Earth CY chondrite asteroids. Science Advances. Ms# aed6340 (accepted 2026, May 2nd).