ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano pushes Italy for a bigger role in NASA's Artemis lunar program

NASA’s Artemis II mission completed a crewed lunar flyby, delivering striking images of Earth’s far side and confirming the flight path for the next phases of the program. At the Next Milan Forum, ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano said he “misses space every day,” linking his personal desire to return to orbit with Europe’s need to secure an operational slot in the Artemis architecture. Parmitano’s résumé includes two long‑duration ISS missions (166 and 201 days) and six spacewalks, experience that ESA hopes will translate into early participation in the lunar supply chain, subsystems and crew‑rotation contracts.

Artemis III has been re‑scoped as a low‑Earth‑orbit test, while Artemis IV remains slated for the first human landing on the Moon. Europe aims to embed its hardware and expertise at the earliest possible stage. The mission also sparked broader reflections on the value of scientific exploration, with commentators noting how the images of a blue‑green Earth reinforce hopes for using technology—from space research to gene‑edited crops—to benefit society.

Together, the articles highlight both the technical milestones of Artemis II and the strategic push by Italy and the European Space Agency to deepen their involvement in the next era of lunar exploration.