Space Technologies: with the ARIA project, the Institute of Mechanical Intelligence is studying electric rockets to lower the altitude of spacecraft flight operations in Earth orbits below 300 km

Aerial and space flight have offered humanity different perspectives and opened new communication channels. There remains a void, between 50 km and 300 km of altitude, where the rarefied atmosphere makes it difficult to operate with both spacecraft and airplanes. To face this “high altitude” challenge, the Institute of Mechanical Intelligence of the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, in collaboration with the University of Pisa, is coordinating the ARIA project (ARIA-Air-breathing Rocket for Innovative Applications). The project is funded by the Ministry of University and Research (MUR) with an investment of over 1.5 million euros, lasts 5 years and is under the scientific supervision of Tommaso Andreussi, full professor of Fluid Dynamics at the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies.

The objective is to create, for the first time, an electric exo-reactor capable of sending satellites flying at altitudes below 300 km, in very-low Earth orbit (VLEO). Operating in these orbits can offer radical advantages in terms of accessibility, instrument performance, protection from radiation and reduction of space debris. 
Air-breathing electric rockets (AER) combine an air intake to collect the atmosphere and an electric thruster to ionize and accelerate the collected particles. Although several implementations of this technology have been proposed in recent years, evidence of its feasibility is still limited.
As demonstrated by the new space economy, focusing on small platforms can allow satellite constellations to be put into orbit quickly and cheaply. For this reason, ARIA will concentrate on the development of a miniaturized AER thruster, capable of being integrated on CubeSat platforms, miniaturized satellites composed of one or more cubic blocks with a side length of 10 cm. This will reduce development costs and time and facilitate access to very low Earth orbits.
ARIA's objective is to demonstrate the feasibility of the AER concept and pave the way for the application of the technology in flight. To this end, the project activities will focus on three aspects: defining mission scenarios and system architecture for CubeSat platforms based on AER technology; creating a wind tunnel to provide a controlled environment for ground testing of prototypes; designing an electric exo-engine integrated within the selected platform.