Italy is also preparing for the major international race to return to the Moon. Institutions, research institutes, and companies in our country are working on a variety of projects that will be required in the near future to allow human crews to return to our natural satellite as well as to establish permanent bases for scientific and technological activity. Italian efforts include building a habitation module on the Moon, developing a tiny nuclear reactor to power future human settlements, and constructing telecommunications and navigation systems on the lunar surface. Thales Alenia Space is a global leader in the development of pressurized modules for lunar missions; in fact, the company is developing the "Halo", "I-Hab", and "Esprit" modules for the "Lunar Gateway" cislunar orbiting structure at its Turin plant, and has recently signed a contract with the Italian Space Agency (ASI) to begin work on the "Multi-Purpose Habitat" (MPH) module. It was intended to be the first permanent inhabited outpost on our satellite. ENEA is now studying a mini-nuclear reactor as part of the "Selene" project, which intends to construct an innovative energy infrastructure known as the "Moon Energy Hub" (MEnH) to power human activities on the Moon. In the future, it will also be necessary to establish telecommunications and satellite positioning networks on the Moon similar to those available on Earth: the "Lunar Communications and Navigation Services" (LCNS) study, entrusted by the European Space Agency (ESA) to an international consortium led by Telespazio, aims to find a solution to this need.
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