Involve Space is Using AM to Make Space More Accessible

Additive manufacturing is used in many industrial sectors, especially those that continually seek innovations in terms of technologies, processes and materials. Chief among them is undoubtedly the aerospace sector, for which R&D is crucial. In this context, the use of additive manufacturing is becoming increasingly widespread, with the aim of achieving higher performance, optimizing final parts and processes. To learn more about the many ways to use 3D printing in this industry, we interviewed Involve Space, an Italian startup whose goal is to make space activities more accessible and environmentally friendly with the use of additive manufacturing.

3DN: Can you introduce yourself and tell us what Involve Space is?

I’m Claudio Piazzai, Director of Operations and Projects at Involve Space. Involve Space is an innovative Italian startup operating in the aerospace sector. We provide launch services in the stratosphere through our pseudo-satellite platform composed of a stratospheric balloon, a probe and a strong integration with an artificial intelligence software component. The missions we perform are varied, but our main market segments include testing (of satellites, materials and electronic devices), earth observation and scientific research (including atmospheric composition analysis).

3DN: When and how was Involve Space born? What is its main mission?

Involve Space’s origins date back to 2015. Jonathan Polotto, CEO of Involve Space, launched a GoPro attached to a “homemade” aerospace probe into the stratosphere with the goal of making a viral YouTube video. Subsequently, there have been several company-level evolutions through stratospheric launches for commercial and marketing purposes. In 2021, Involve Group actually registered as a company. Back then, the infrastructure was very different and more spartan, but over the years we discovered the true potential of these missions and started to focus on what is now the real core business of Involve Space: launches for scientific and technical purposes. Thus was formed the highly specialized team of engineers and developers that, together with a strong commercial and management presence, forms the backbone of the entire company.