Helping to inject enthusiastic support for the Italian space industry, distinguished European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Luca Parmitano recently appeared as the keynote speaker at the "Space It Up" conference in Houston, Texas to promote six innovative startups from his homeland entering the global space economy.
Parmitano is one of Italy's most experienced test pilot/astronauts in ESA's European Astronaut Corps, having flown into outer space twice since being chosen to their ranks in 2009. These missions included one harrowing spacewalk in 2013 where his helmet flooded with water due to a clogged filter on Expedition 36/37, becoming the first Italian to command the International Space Station on Expedition 60/61 in 2019, and being featured in the riveting Disney+ science docuseries, "Among the Stars."
